Empire
by stalkerace
Summary: Throughout history, few had been given the power to control the destiny of their fellow men, but it is these captains of history that legends are made of. - H/Hr, Extreme AU, OC, OoC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

**EMPIRE**

**PROLOGUE**

**Imperial Britannian Embassy**

**Madrid, Kingdom of Spain**

**June 18, 2006 **

The silence that had echoed around the fifty feet hallway that separated the office of the ambassador from the rest of the embassy complex was broken by the sound of footsteps.

Light as they may be, the sound made when the soles of the shoes stepped upon the hardwood floor of the second floor of the embassy echoed around the relatively narrow passageway, reflected back to where it came from by the specially designed hall, the features of which had allowed a speaker speaking from one side of the hall to be heard by a listener on the other side without the speaker raising his voice.

Unique amongst the embassies maintained by the Golden Throne, the Embassy of the Holy Empire in the Kingdom of Spain is a castle in all but name, and that was mostly because only Spanish nobility can own castles in the Kingdom. This veritable fortress had housed the representatives of the Holy Empire to the Iberian Peninsula since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and had never been breached, even during the Spanish Civil War.

For the young woman who walked alone along the relatively narrow hallway, however, those are facts that she is not interested in right now. There are stories behind those times of changes that she admits she wishes to know, but as with everything there is a time for everything.

With a start and with a small smile on her face that was most likely directed toward herself, the young woman stopped. She turned her attention not toward her left hand side and toward the impressive collection of stained glasses that are one of the reasons why this building has been considered as a work of art in itself, but toward her right hand side, toward a wall filled with portraits that, while expertly done, are no more than replicas of the originals that hang in a similar hallway – albeit larger and without the design that made this hallway unique – back at the capital.

There is a time for everything, and the young woman knew, as she stared at a particular portrait that hangs before her, that she was early. As if she was not sure with her conclusions, she glanced at the gold and silver wristwatch – a present for her last birthday from her parents – that she wore upon her left wrist to check the time, and she grimaced – perhaps uncomfortably for her – when the two hands of her wristwatch told her that she was right.

She fought the urge to sigh, and the urge to wish that time would go faster. She was in the business of realities, not wishes, and she knew that there is no spell, no magic in the world, that could speed up time. The young lady knew that she could simulate the sensation of speeding up time, but unlike slowing down time, for one reason or another, speeding up time is impossible, even for magic.

The frown on the face of the young woman turned into a small smile as she patted the manila envelope that she had with her. She knew the contents of the envelope like the back of her hand, but that was because she was the one who had caused the preparation of the report inside, and she was the one who read the report after it was finished prior to presenting it to the Ambassador. The time that she has right now would not be spent wisely on rereading the report because she already knew what the report would say.

Instead, she refocused her attention upon the portrait in front of her. She knew that all Britannian embassies around the world – and all castles and palaces back home, plus the headquarters of the different government agencies, ministries, and departments – has a hallway dedicated specifically to these portraits. Copies they might be, but the history and the implication that they present to subject of the Emperor or to a foreigner visiting the hallowed hallways could not be denied.

This is the Wall of History, a wall within a hallway dedicated specifically to show the visitor the history of the Holy Empire of Britannia through portraits that showcase important world events, events that had brought the Holy Empire from its humble beginnings, a defeated nation that was forced to flee its homeland, to the world power that the Empire is today.

It is an Empire that could rightly claim that the sun never sets upon its territory.

Mentally, the young lady shook her head as she turned her attention toward the first portrait in the series. It was of a middle aged, slightly chubby and balding man as he stood in front of an assembled congress. It was obvious that he was addressing the gathering of men, and from the clothes that they wore, it was obvious that this was sometime during the Age of Revolutions.

'_Benjamin Franklin and the Estates-General,'_ the young woman thought to herself, naming that particular piece of artwork.

'_Sent to France by the Continental Congress after the start of hostilities that would later become known as the Continental Rebellion, for some reason or another, instead of soliciting assistance from France, he insulted the Estates-General and was expelled from the country,'_ she continued, closing her eyes as she recalled the history lessons that she had been taught when she was younger, '_Six months later, he died a broken man not ten kilometers away from where I am standing right now. In a sense, however, he is lucky, for he never got to see the end of the rebellion that he dedicated his life to a year later. I wonder, how different would history be if he had actually managed to convince France?'_

A smile came across the face of the young lady even as she shook her head. She is not the history major that her fiancée is, but she was familiar with history, if only because of the fact that her fiancée loved to speculate about how different the world would be today if the things that had happened in the past, happened differently.

She knew, however, that she has no time to reminisce about those days. She had to finish this meeting with the ambassador as soon as possible and return home because he is waiting for her to come back home.

Unfortunately, there is still no way for her to speed up time, so she instead turned her attention toward a second portrait. It was not the second in the series, but for her, the events that had come between the first portrait in the series and this one are unimportant events that she could skip.

The new portrait had a martial tone in it, but that was hardly surprising. The center of the portrait was occupied by a man in uniform as he directed red-coated soldiers towards position, while at the background; blue-coated infantry storm the beach that he was trying his best to defend.

'_The Defense and Fall of Kent,'_ she thought to herself, and as with the first portrait, that is the title of this particular work of art.

'_After the British Royal Navy's success in Trafalgar in 1850, the threat of invasion was said to have disappeared, but that assessment was wrong,'_ the young woman thought, '_Now bereft of protection for his barges, the French Emperor – whether by genius or by luck – decided that if he could not go through the waters of the English Channel, he would go underneath it.'_

She returned her attention toward the portrait, and a sigh escaped from her lips, '_Caught by surprise, the Duke of Kent could do little against the Grandee Armee of Napoleon and within weeks after the fall of Kent, the rest of the United Kingdom followed.'_

The young lady knew that the French Emperor had no need to march his army from Kent to the mountains of Northern Scotland; she knew that he only needed one thing, and he got that one thing.

Fighting the urge to curse under her breath, she turned her attention toward the next portrait, and this one is directly beside the previous portrait. The French Emperor cut a distinctive swath across the canvass, and the painter managed to impress the French Emperor upon the work of art as both arrogant and victorious, a combination that she had not seen in many other pictures. There was, however, a reason why the French Emperor looked smug in this portrait, and it had something to do with what the other man in the portrait with him was doing.

'_The Humiliation of Buckingham,'_ the young lady thought to herself as she focused her attention on the painting.

King George of the United Kingdom was literally sweating as the French Emperor and his marshals surrounded him and dictated the peace treaty that the British monarch was forced to sign to stop the rampaging French legion. Little did the last king of the Hanover line knew, however, instead of stopping the rampage; his signature at the end of a stack of paper legalized the rampage.

'_An unequal peace treaty that a King at the end of his wits was forced to sign, believing that this would end the war on the British Isles,' _the young lady thought, she shook her head before she added, '_He lived long enough to regret affixing his signature at the bottom of that paper.'_

Every Britannian child – even for those who were born in the British Isles following the reconquest of the Isles like her – knew of the horrors that had happened even before that treaty was signed. Every Britannian child also knew what happened next, if only because they swore every time that they sing their national anthem that they would never allow it to happen again.

With her fist clenched unconsciously, the young woman turned her attention to the next portrait. This next portrait was also the next in the series following the previous painting, but it is by far the more famous portrait, perhaps, even more well-known than the portrait that showed the founding of the Holy Empire.

'_The Passage of Tears,_' the young lady thought as she focused her gaze upon the canvas that stood in front of her.

'_The United Kingdom had fallen, and with its fall came the marauding invaders,'_ she thought, '_A small army – the Peninsular Army that had campaigned in the very land where I stand right now – held Cornwall and Southern Wales long enough to allow four thousand ships laden with refugees to cross the Atlantic, to the New World, but it was not enough.'_

She turned her attention toward the lower left hand corner of the portrait. It was a small portion, she knew, but it had become more powerful than the burning ships, the men fighting, and the march of civilians that occupied the rest of the painting. That scene where she focused all of her attention to was that of a mother as she handed her children to a strange in the hopes that the children would make it out of the burning United Kingdom.

That scene, the young lady knew, was based on reality. While the ever dwindling number of British soldiers and sailors delayed the French, civilians swarmed every ship that they could find, and when it became clear that the ships could not take everyone, mothers began handing their children to crews and to those lucky few who had passage.

It was hardly surprising that this is the most powerful portrait in the series. Unlike the rest of the portraits that hang upon the walls, the original copy of this portrait does not rest inside the Imperial National Museum in the capital. The original of this portrait rests within the personal apartments of the Imperial Family within the Crystal Palace where it serves as a reminder to those who rule the Holy Empire, _'Never Again.'._

The young lady closed her eyes as she forced herself to take three deep breaths. She knew that she needed to calm down, and she knew the exact portrait that she needed to see in order to calm down.

Skipping several years and a multitude of events later, the portrait that she stopped in front of was a festive one. Purple banners decorated the battlements of the castle that stood at the distance as people dance on the streets, but the real attention stealer in the portrait was the man who was at the center of it.

The smile on his face was deceptive, and the look of steel upon his dark blue eyes only served to highlight that all the more. The crown that rested upon his brow was new, but would soon become old; the scepter on his right hand would be destroyed in the numerous battles that it would be taken to, while the golden orb on his left would be shattered as it witnessed the rise of the Holy Empire.

'_September 18, 1832,'_ she thought, and a smile came across her face. More than a name of a painting, the date is symbolical, for it is the date of the founding of the Holy Empire of Britannia.

'_Emperor George I of York, the first Holy Emperor of Britannia,'_ the young lady thought as she stared at the likeness of the first Emperor forevermore painted upon the canvas, '_A survivor of the Passage of Tears, fervent diplomat, soldier, and politician, and founder of the Holy Empire of Britannia.'_

She knew the histories, of course. Emperor George vowed that he would retake the British Isles and make the Empire the most powerful nation in the world right after the crown was laid to rest upon his brow. That vow was fulfilled a few years later, but by that time, the founder, the first Emperor of Britannia had been long gone, his body resting behind a great stone where a statue of him rested.

She turned her attention to the next portrait in her series, once more skipping a few and jumping many years from where she last left off. The next portrait again had a martial tone.

'_The Launch of HMS Dreadnought,_' the young lady thought to herself. How apt it was that this event be included amongst the events that had changed the course of the Holy Empire. This was an event, however, that changed not only the Empire, but the whole world.

'_Moments after her launch in 1906, this battleship turned the number of first rate capital ships in the world to one,'_ she thought, and with a smile, she remembered that that was exactly how her liege lord had explained the importance of the launch, '_The first warship of the skies, she both destroyed and created nations.'_

_HMS Dreadnought _was the first warship in the world that could take to the skies through a combination of reactors and electric currents that flow through her hull. For the first time ever, man could take to the skies in a craft heavier-than-air without having to resort to magic.

The power and prestige that she brought to the Holy Empire was immeasurable, but that is not the reason why the launching of a ship was amongst those events included in the defining moments of the Holy Empire. The reason that this launching was included was the fact that the first generation of dreadnought warships – as every ship that came after her was called – were too expensive.

At least four nations went bankrupt and became extinct because of costs associated with building dreadnoughts, and at least two nations were born because of the costs associated with building dreadnoughts.

The investment in these weapons, however, proved to be the right choice, and as the young woman turned her attention toward the next portrait in the series, she could not help but smile. The events portrayed in this portrait were important to her because she knew that had this not happened, chances are, she would not be here today, she would either be a citizen of France or a subject of the Prussian Kaiser, but most importantly for her, had this event not happened, she would not have met the man that she had grown to love far more than she had thought possible.

'_Operation Righteous Dawn,'_ the young woman thought as she fixed the next portrait in the series – among the last five that hang from the Wall of History – her undivided attention.

As with the previous portrait, this painting also had a martial tone. Unlike the previous portrait, however, this one showed an actual military operation, albeit romanticized by the painter to show an event during that battle that might not have even occurred in real life.

'_The Holy Empire returns like the dawn upon the land where her founders were born,'_ the young woman thought. She did not even realize that a smile had blossomed upon her face as her thoughts ran from her, '_While busily fighting a war against the expanding Prussian Empire to her east, the French had to contend with the Britannian invasion to their west._'

In less than four months, the British Isles were again under control of the descendants of William the Conqueror. As for the French Empire, it was the last straw, it disappeared six years later, gobbled up whole by the Prussian Empire.

A sigh escaped from within the young woman though her lips. She turned her attention toward the last portrait in the series, an event that had happened within her lifetime, but before she could focus her attention toward this portrait, the door at the end of the long and narrow hall creaked.

She turned her attention toward it just in time to see a party of men exit the office of the ambassador, and once more, a sigh escaped from within her. She fixed the portrait one look that did not even last for two seconds before she returned her attention toward the door to the office of the official representative of the Golden Throne to the Iberian Peninsula.

She knew that the sooner that she finished her meeting with the Ambassador, the sooner that she could get home. A smile graced her face as she told herself that she could not wait, she had no doubt that the man that she loves was already home waiting for her, and she could not wait to be in his arms. If she was lucky, she could catch him preparing their dinner for the evening, after all, he promised her that he would take care of dinner tonight.

**ONE**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 16, 1995**

The impressive castle stood alone against the backdrop of darkness, its lights seemingly a beacon for a wanderer lost amidst the giant trees that surrounded the grounds around the citadel.

The castle is the location of the premier magical school in the whole of the British Isles, a school that claimed that they are the best magical school in the whole world, but despite the limited capacity of thought that the winged creature had as it cut through the air toward an open window at the central tower of the castle, even the feathered avian knew that that claim was obsolete.

There was a time when Hogwarts could rightly claim that they are the best school, but today, the school that was housed inside this impressive castle that could not stand without magic could only claim that they are the oldest formal magical school in the world. Almost all of the magical schools around the world had completely overtaken Hogwarts when it comes to quality of education.

The big brown barn owl flapped its wings twice, considerably slowing its speed. The big yellow eyes of the creatures narrowed as it instinctually homed in on a particular source of light within the highest tower of the school. It did not even need to think twice before it darted toward that source of light.

Inside his office, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, hummed slightly to himself as he marked the page on the book that he was reading. At one hundred fourteen years of age, the Headmaster of Hogwarts found that he could not sleep through the night anymore without having read at least a hundred pages of text, and that was exactly what he was doing.

He wondered if he could engage one of his more talented student in an intellectual discussion about the latest theories of transfiguration that seem to straddle muggle physics, but realized that there are very few students in Hogwarts that could actually understand the things that are written in the book that he was reading, most of them muggle-born.

His eyesight – still clear even after more than a century of use – caught the approaching barn owl before it actually entered his office, but he did nothing to stop it because he also caught sight of the letter that the owl held on its clawed toes.

The Headmaster was neither surprised nor worried when the barn owl darted through his open window to drop a letter on the surface of his desk. He was also not surprised or worried when that same barn owl flew through the same window that it had used to enter his office right after it had dropped the letter. It was not unheard of for owls to have instructions against letting the recipient know who the sender was.

Of course, given the position of the Headmaster, it was also possible that this was actually a trap, and because one could not be too careful, the Headmaster actually drew his wand from his left sleeve in order to cast an uncommon detection charm that he was sure few people had even heard of, let alone capable of casting.

The white envelope that the Headmaster was sure contained the letter glowed a faint pink hue for a few moments before the hue turned white, informing the Headmaster that the letter was clean. A soft smile came across the face of the Headmaster as he considered what the reaction of most of his staff would have been should they see him casting a detection charm on his letters, but this same vigilance had saved his life more times than he could care to count. Besides, one could never be too careful.

A sigh escaped through the lips of the Headmaster as he snapped his finger. The white envelope floated from the table before it darted at a relatively slow speed toward the Headmaster who realized that he was already too lazy to actually walk the five feet difference between him and his desk.

The first thing that the Headmaster noticed about the letter was that there was no return address. That in itself was not unusual, the owls that deliver these letters are well aware of where they had came from and if the letter could not be delivered, the owls would just return home. The letter, however, was also devoid of any markings that would have given the Headmaster a clue as to where it came from.

Albus also knew that the letter was prepared without magic. His detection charm had glowed white after he cast it, meaning there was not even the slightest residue of magic in the paper. If this was prepared with magic, then there would have been residue, but the detection charm that he had cast confirmed the absence of that.

'_Curious,'_ the Headmaster thought to himself as he opened the letter. Even the letters that came from the parents of muggle-born students have magical residue, because their letters are routed toward a central location operated by the Ministry.

That the letter came from someone magical was not in doubt, because the letter was delivered by owl, though for the life of him, the Headmaster could not remember a magical acquaintance – or even anyone magical for that matter – who would not use magic in sealing their letter.

The seal on this letter was wax, and upon the red wax was embossed a coat of arms that the Headmaster in his more than one hundred years had never seen before. The stag on the upper right hand corner of the shield, however, caused the Headmaster to momentarily pause. There was a significance in that stag, the Headmaster knew, but for the life of him, he could not figure out the significance.

Shrugging indifferently, however, Albus Dumbledore told himself that it must not be that important if he could not remember it, so instead of focusing his admittedly impressive brainpower to solving that mystery, he opened the envelope containing the letter.

For a brief few moments, the Headmaster actually thought that the envelope would explode on him, never mind the fact that his detection charm had assured him that everything was safe. The man who is widely acknowledged as the most powerful mage alive today actually breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened after he opened the envelope.

There were two folded white pieces of paper inside the envelope, and the Headmaster need not pull them out to know that whoever had written them, had written them using a modern pen rather than the traditional quill and parchment that the magical world is still using today.

A soft frown appeared across the face of the headmaster at that, when he realized that the person who wrote this letter was actually thumping his nose at the traditions of the magical world. Albus might not agree with many of the traditions of the magical world, but there are those that he does agree with, and it was because in his opinion, things are better off if everyone would follow that tradition.

Parchment and quill are just two of the traditions that the Headmaster followed.

A sigh escaped from within the Headmaster through his lips as he focused his attention upon the letter in front of him. The neat arrangement of the letters – and the controlled way that they were etched upon the surface of the paper – reminded him of a student who had graduated more than a decade ago, but with a start, the Headmaster shook his head as he reminded himself that that student had disappeared from the magical world, and despite repeated attempts from the Headmaster to find them, they had not been seen since.

The Headmaster fought a second sigh that threatened to come out of him through his lips as he thought about his failure to protect that family. In a sense, the Headmaster knew that he was partly at fault for the reason why that family – one of the brightest, richest, and oldest in the magical world – had left the land of their birth, but with a start, the Headmaster reminded himself that right now is not the proper time to be feeling guilty about something.

The same coat of arms that was embossed upon the wax that had sealed the envelope was printed at the top and center of the paper, and once more, the Headmaster forced himself to ignore the features of the shield.

The moment that he saw the first line of the letter, however, he quickly realized what the significance of the stag on the shield was.

He actually had to prevent himself from banging his head at the nearest surface that he could find, preferably, a hard surface. Now that he realized what the stag signifies, he realized that he should have known. The stag was the patronus form of James Potter, after all.

'_Why now, though?' _the Headmaster asked himself. James, Lily, and their son Harry had been missing since 1981, since the day that magic had proven they had fought against the Dark Lord Voldemort – _'Another student that I had failed,'_ the Headmaster thought to himself, '_How different would history be had he not turned out the way that he did?'_ – so the Headmaster was understandable curious as to why James would initiate contact with him, especially considering the fact that the Headmaster had spent a considerable amount in both time and fortune to find the family without success.

Albus mentally shook his head; however, as he told himself that there would be a time to consider that later. Right now, he needed to find out what is the reason that the Potter patriarch had sent this letter, and considering the fact that the letter was sealed with red wax and embossed with the coat-of-arms of an ennobled family – the silver crown at the left hand side of the shield was allowed only on coat of arms of ennobled families – he realized that it might not be to his liking at all.

The chill that ran through the spine of the Headmaster was pointedly ignored as the one hundred fourteen year old focused his attention upon the letters that were written on the surface of the paper.

'_Esteemed Headmaster, Albus Percivial Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_I realize that it had been nearly fifteen years since the last time that you and I have talked. I also realized that it had been nearly fifteen years since the last time that you and I had met. I am sure that as you read this letter, you are wondering why I had initiated this contact despite the fact that for the last fifteen years I had shown neither hide nor hair to either you or those that you had sent around the Empire and the world in an attempt to find us'_

The Headmaster fought the urge to grimace at that point. Not even his closest advisors and colleagues are aware that he had been searching for the Potter family. It ranked him that not only was James aware of the search, from the way that the message was written, the elder Potter was probably watching the search as well.

'_This letter, however, was not sent to beg for your forgiveness, Headmaster, not when it is clear to me and my wife that the ones who should be apologizing is you rather than us, after all, it was you who suggested that sniveling traitor of a rat as our Secret-Keeper rather than allowing us to go through with our original plan.'_

Once more, the Headmaster grimaced. The original plan of James and Lily the moment that they had heard the prophecy was to go into hiding under the _fidelius _charm with Sirius Black – James's best friend and godfather to their son – as their Secret-Keeper. Sirius was set to go into hiding as well and the Headmaster was sure that the heir of House Black had a number of bolt holes that he could hide under without resorting to the charm.

The Headmaster, however, managed to convince Lily, then James, to use their other friend, Peter Pettigrew, as Secret-Keeper. It was a good plan, since everyone assumed that Sirius would be the Secret-Keeper and because Peter was the weakest of the four Marauders – the gang that James and Sirius had created during their time at Hogwarts – no one would assume that Peter was the Secret-Keeper. At that time, Albus assumed that there was a spy within the ranks of the Order, but he just could not root out that spy.

Less than a week after the Potter family went into hiding, they were finally able to identify the spy, and he was none other than Peter Pettigrew. The only reason that they were able to identify the rat, however, was because he led Lord Voldemort into the house where the Potter family was in hiding.

Details were sketchy even after more than a decade of trying to find answers, but mostly everyone agreed that the Dark Lord attempted to kill James and Lily, only for the most feared Dark Lord in history to discover that not only were James and Lily not afraid of him, they were somehow prepared. Exactly how is known only to three people – James, Lily, and the Dark Lord – but the results are undeniable, Lord Voldemort was defeated. Some say he was killed, others say he was only banished, whatever the truth was, however, that night, the Blood War ended.

James, Lily, and their one year old son Harry disappeared. Sirius Black, having went into hiding himself as per the original plan, also disappeared. For fifteen years, the Headmaster had attempted to locate them, only for James to up and send this letter.

'_The Potter family had been fortunate, Headmaster, in the years since we had left the land of our birth, and we are now part of the Imperial aristocracy through the good graces of the newly named Prince of Wales and Prince of Scotland. I and my wife had sworn oath to the Prince and it was in his request that I send this letter to you, not to beg for a resumption of our relationship, but as a warning and as a notice to you as Headmaster of Hogwarts.'_

The Headmaster paused at that. Clearly, whatever it is that James – or his liege lord – had wanted to warn Albus about, it had something to do with the school, and because Albus is the Headmaster, that was his business.

'_Imperial Intelligence is worried about the almost exponential growth of extremist separatist in Northern Scotland, and as Prince of Scotland, it is the duty of my liege lord to ensure peace and security within his realms. Toward this end, His Highness, the Prince of Scotland had authorized the deployment of an infantry division – the 22__nd__ Infantry Division currently based in Cornwall – to Scotland.'_

Normally, that would not have been a concern to the Headmaster of Hogwarts. As far as he was concerned, the Prince could redeploy his military as much as he want, but the fact that James had seen fit to warn him – or the Headmaster of Hogwarts – of this deployment meant that Hogwarts would be affected by this deployment – either directly or indirectly.

'_The 22__nd__ Infantry Division would be redeployed to Inverness, but one brigade of the division – specifically 'C' Brigade – would move northward for an exercise. The area chosen for the location of the exercise, Headmaster, is a wooded area located reasonably far away from any major population centers. You know this area as the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts.'_

Albus fought the urge to slam the letter of James against the nearest hard surface that he could reach. The head of the Potter family had warned him that muggles are coming to his school. Usually, he would not have been worried, as the Headmaster knew that the muggles could not even see the school, but he had a feeling that because of the fact that these muggles serve the Golden Throne, they would see the school.

'_This is happening right now, Headmaster, there is nothing that you could do. Your cooperation in this movement is expected, and His Highness had asked me to remind you of the fact that you and your government had sworn an oath to follow the instructions of the Golden Throne or its authorized representatives. I need not remind you that my liege lord is a representative of the Golden Throne and grandson of the Empress.'_

It was just as the Headmaster had thought, and with an almost violent shake of his head, the Headmaster told himself that there is nothing that he could do about it. James was right, he had sworn an oath, and it was a magical oath, an oath that would not only suck the magic out of him should he disobey it, given his age, it would actually kill him.

The letter of James, however, was not yet finished. With a growing sense of trepidation, Albus returned his attention to the letter, but the news that James was yet to deliver was actually the first good news that the Headmaster has had today – considering that the day had already ended for some people, that was saying something.

'_In a lighter note, Headmaster, my son, Harry James Potter, would be part of this deployment,'_

The Headmaster blinked at that. Had he read that right? As far as the Headmaster was concerned, Harry is only fifteen years old. At that age, he would only be a fifth year student at Hogwarts, about to take his OWL's, and it will only be after that that he would be considered an adult who could actually perform magic outside the school provided that no muggle could witness him performing. Now James is telling him that his son is joining the deployment, and that meant only one thing in the mind of the Headmaster. The boy could not be a soldier already, so what is James playing at?

'_Now fifteen year old, Harry had fought tooth and nail to earn his recommendation for the Imperial Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. My son had graduated first in his class from the Olympia Magical Academy, and his instructors are most impressed by his abilities as a wizard and as a leader. It was not exactly a secret to either me or my wife that he would take this path.'_

Albus grimaced at that. Few people are even aware of the real reason that the Dark Lord Voldemort had chosen to make a visit to the Potter family that fateful Halloween. Most assumed that the target of the Dark Lord was James and Lily, but Albus Dumbledore knew better, mostly because he had heard the prophecy that had sent the Dark Lord to Godric's Hallow – where the Potter Family had gone into hiding – in the first place. The target of the Dark Lord was Harry Potter, and because Albus knew that his former student had not been killed that fateful Halloween, Harry is important.

Toward that end, the Headmaster had gone to extreme lengths to find James and Lily. He had designed courses at Hogwarts that would allow Harry the chance to kill Lord Voldemort, but all that appears to be for naught now, since it was clear that not only is Harry already proficient in magic, he is now under protection by the Golden Throne.

'_Harry and ten of his classmates from the Imperial Naval Academy would accompany the deploying 'C' Brigade of the 22__nd__ Infantry Division. All ten of them are magical, Headmaster, and aside from the fact that they would be observing the exercises of 'C' Brigade, they are also going to be observing classes at Hogwarts as part of the plans of His Highness to curb the growing decline of education within the British Isles.'_

Albus actually managed to look hurt at the statement that James had written on the paper. Although the Headmaster was more than aware of the decline of the quality of Hogwarts education, he was of the opinion that Hogwarts is still the best school in the world. The decline had only served to allow the other schools to catch up – rather than overtake – with the quality of Hogwarts education.

'_Headmaster, once more, your cooperation is expected,_

_Lord James Charles Potter'_

Albus finished reading the letter before he allowed the sigh that he had been holding back to truly escape him. He turned his attention toward the perch that was inside his office, but his familiar had not yet returned, and besides, there was little that Fawkes could do in this matter, the phoenix could not speak with Albus and lately, the bird had been avoiding him altogether.

That muggles are coming to Hogwarts alarmed the Headmaster, but unlike what James had claimed, there was something that the Headmaster could do, though to go down that road would perhaps create more problems for the Headmaster, Hogwarts, and quite possibly the magical world, than it would solve. In any case, the Headmaster is not convinced that they could take on even just a brigade of heavily armed, highly trained muggle soldiers with just fifty active members of the Order of the Phoenix.

The laziness of the Headmaster was completely forgotten as the white-bearded man jumped from where he was seated and toward the fireplace. This far north, it was always cold, and even the fireplace burning continuously could do nothing against that, but that was not the reason why there is a fireplace in the office of the Headmaster – for one thing, the Headmaster is quite proficient with warming charms, and they are more efficient.

The Headmaster grabbed a handful of green powder from a container that rested above the hearth here the fire burned and threw that handful of green powder into the burning fire. The effect was almost instantaneous as the red flames turned green. Moments ago, the fire that burned within the hearth would have scorched the long white beard of the Headmaster, but because the flames had turned green, Albus knew that it would not hurt him.

"Minerva, are you there?" the Headmaster asked as soon as his head was swallowed by the green flames.

"Headmaster," came the reply, "Why are you still up?"

"There is something that I need to discuss with you," the Headmaster replied, "Would you mind stepping through to my office?"

The Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts did not bother to reply. The Headmaster removed his head from the green flames and quickly took a seat behind his desk. He had barely rested on the soft cushion of his rather impressive looking high-backed chair before the green flames in his fireplace erupted, throwing flames as high as ten feet high into the stone and brick chimney above the flames burned.

A figure stepped out of the towering flames, her expression one that clearly showed that she did not appreciate having to be asked to step into the office of the Headmaster at this late hour. Against her stern expression that promised pain and humiliation for all those who would dare stand up against her, the Headmaster of Hogwarts could only offer a grandfatherly smile.

"Lemon Drop?" the Headmaster asked. It was his usual opening for any conversation that was set in his office, but in the nearly forty years that he had been Headmaster of Hogwarts – and the many years before that since he had become a professor in the school – none had actually taken his offer.

"No, thank you, Headmaster," Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, professor of transfiguration, and one of only two people in the school who could actually stand up against the Headmaster, replied with a slight upturning of her lips, "Is this the reason that you had asked for me at this time in the evening Headmaster?" she asked, though before the Headmaster could reply, she quickly added, "I have an early class tomorrow."

Albus actually fidgeted as his Deputy affixed him with a stare that many students would have not only found intimidating, but downright scary. Albus Dumbledore, however, is the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and while intimidating, Minerva is not only Deputy Headmistress, she was also a student of Albus when she was younger.

"Not quite, Minerva," Albus replied at the same time that he picked a sour candy and propped it into his mouth. He motioned for his deputy to take a seat at the same time that he silently summoned the letter of James Potter to his desk.

Minerva was not impressed with the silent summoning charm of the Headmaster, but that was mostly because she had seen it before and was actually capable of doing the exact same thing that the Headmaster had done. She was also not happy with the fact that the Headmaster had asked for her this late in the evening, but because she had been invited to take her seat that, she followed his instructions and did exactly as she had asked.

"Minerva," Albus began as he set the letter of James before her, "I have received this letter from James Potter this evening."

The look on the face of Minerva instantly changed when she heard the name and she could not get the paper fast enough. Without the Headmaster even telling her, Minerva dove – figuratively, of course – into the letter and read the contents, her brows furrowing as she digested the information in the letter.

Albus actually thanked himself as he watched her. He had the presence of mind to inform her about everything that was written in the letter regarding the affair that saw James and Lily leave the British Isles. The Headmaster of Hogwarts actually shuddered as he asked himself how Minerva would have reacted if she had not known. He knew that it would not be a pretty sight.

Minerva is Head of Gryffindor House, and James, Lily, Sirius, and Peter are all in Gryffindor. Much like the mascot animal of her house, Minerva is a lioness ready to protect her cubs, despite the fact that she is very strict with them.

"This explains why Harry Potter did not appear in the foyer of Hogwarts in 1991, despite the letter that he had been sent," Minerva replied dryly as she pushed the letter back to the Headmaster. She did not even give the old man a chance to say something before she added, "It also explains where James had taken his family following the attack."

Albus had suspected that the Potter family would be at the mainland, truth to be told, but because he had not shared the fact that he had been searching for the Potter's to his Deputy, he thought it best not to reveal that tiny tidbit of information.

"That is not the only reason that I asked for you, Minerva," the Headmaster revealed as he theatrically sighed, "I would have asked for Filius as well, but seeing that he is not here…," he let the thought go unfinished.

Minerva nodded. Filius Flitwick is the resident charms professor and the only other person in Hogwarts aside from Minerva who could stand up against the Headmaster. Unfortunately, the ever-jolly professor had asked to be excused for the evening to visit an old acquaintance that is on the verge of crossing the veil.

"I would advise you to cooperate with their demands, Albus," Minerva replied, surprising the Headmaster, not because of her opinion, but of the fact that she already knew what he was going to ask without him even asking her.

"You truly think that that would be in the best interest of the school and the students, Minerva?" the Headmaster asked, "The international community…"

Minerva interrupted him, "We swore an oath," the Deputy Headmistress reminded her immediate superior. She fixed him a gaze that clearly told him that she is very serious, "You could lose your life should your magic flee your body, Headmaster."

Albus let out a sigh. Of course, Minerva was well aware of the possible consequences a broken magical oath could have on him. Minerva, quite possibly, could suffer the same consequences should _she_ break the magical oath.

"I trust that I would have your backing when I present this to the rest of the staff tomorrow?" Albus asked. He knew that he need not ask, of course, Minerva would have his back, as would the rest of the staff.

The rest of the staff, after all, are also aware of the oath, and even someone who despise muggles like Severus Snape – the resident potions master and a member of the batch that included James and Lily – are aware of the oath. While Severus would complain and harp about, there is truly nothing that he could do since _he _also swore the oath.

"I fear that Severus would be hard to deal with in the coming days," Minerva opined a few moments later. Albus watched as she sighed before she added, "I fear that it would be the students who would be at the receiving end of his wrath."

Albus nodded, "I shall speak with Severus regarding his behavior after the meeting tomorrow," the Headmaster promised his deputy. The Headmaster knew that Minerva was out looking for her Gryffindor students who – more likely than not – are at the brunt of the ire of the potions master, but if the Headmaster was honest, he shared the opinion of Minerva. It was a surprise that Severus had not that many complaint regarding his behavior, but Albus feared that if the muggles would truly come to Hogwarts, then that might change.

"Headmaster," Minerva suddenly said, forcing the Headmaster to return his attention toward his Deputy, a questioning look on his face, "James Potter had mentioned the growing decline of education, what are you going to do about it?"

Albus fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat as this topic was brought up. Minerva had been complaining about the quality of education at Hogwarts for a long time now, but the Headmaster could do little about it not only because of his personal beliefs but also because of the administrators at the Department of Magical Education.

The Headmaster turned his attention toward his Deputy and saw that she was waiting for an answer from him, and with a sigh, the Headmaster replied, "At this moment, there is nothing that I could do about it, Minerva," he said, and before the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts could rally against him, the Headmaster quickly added, "We would discuss this as well tomorrow, Minerva."

Minerva looked at the Headmaster, debating with herself whether or not she should tell him that she had seen through the lie that he had given her, but after a few moments, she realized that even if she told him that, nothing would change, and besides, she has an early class tomorrow, so with a nod, she stood from her seat.

Albus watched as his Deputy returned to the fireplace, and once she was gone, he sighed before he returned his attention to the letter that was in front of him. Things are certainly beginning to get interesting, though the Headmaster found himself wishing that it would not be that interesting.

**Aboard **_**HMS Empire Dawn**_**, Approaching Richardsburg Naval Air Station, Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 16, 1995**

The lights of the nearby city had stolen the attention of the young man who stood by the side of the railings at the highest deck of the transport ship. A sigh escaped from his lips as he heard the footsteps behind him, though he did not turn his attention toward the direction where the sound came from because he already knew who was approaching him.

This near to the debarkation point, the soldiers and officers who make up 'C' Brigade of the 22nd Infantry Division are already aboard the trucks that would carry them to the spot where they had been ordered to deploy. This close to the debarkation point, the only ones who are not yet aboard their designated transports are the highest ranking officers of the brigade – who are still in the planning room with the officers of the ship – and the special guests of the brigade for this operation, the ten first year cadets from the Imperial Naval Academy who somehow managed to find their names amongst those slated to be deployed to Northern Scotland.

The presence of the cadets was not unusual for the three thousand soldiers and officers who make up 'C' Brigade. What is unusual is the fact that the cadets that would be accompanying this exercise are naval cadets from Annapolis rather than army cadets from West Point. The fact that there are only ten of them was also considered unusual – usually, an entire class would accompany a brigade for deployment – but was not commented upon by the junior or field officers.

There was a reason why there are ten naval cadets in the deployment roster of 'C' Brigade, and if the commanders of the brigade had not seen fit to inform the rest of the brigade, then that was their prerogative.

The sound that the horn of the ship made tore the young naval cadet who stood at the highest deck of the transport ship out of his reverie. Without him truly meaning it, he turned his attention away from the lights of the city and toward the direction where the sound came from. Even in this dark night, the dark smoke that is the byproduct of a diesel engine was clearly visible as it escaped into the atmosphere through the smokestack.

Harry James Potter, highest ranking naval cadet of the ten cadets that found their names amongst those who are slated for deployment to Northern Scotland, fought the urge to sigh. The lights of the city of Inverness grew larger as the transport ship approached the dock north of it where they would disembark, and the young naval cadet turned his attention toward the sound of the footprints that he heard moments ago.

As Harry had expected, he knew the person who had approached him. Clad in the same dark blue coveralls as Harry, the other person was obviously a naval cadet like Harry for he does not look a day older than fifteen. Unlike Harry, however, he had light brown eyes and his dark brown hair was not nearly as messy as the bird's nest that is the hair of Harry.

The smile on the face of the other cadet could be taken as insubordination, but Harry knew better. Cadet Fourth Class Edward Brooke meant no disrespect to Harry – either as his temporary superior officer or a fellow cadet of the Imperial Naval Academy – it was just that most of the time, the young man is smiling. Like the untidy hair of Harry, the easy smile of Cadet Brooke had landed him in hot water amongst the cadet first class seniors. Unlike most cadets in the Academy, however, Edward is magical.

"All cadets report ready for disembarkation, commander," Edward reported. He did not bother to salute, because that was not needed. Although Harry has been assigned commander of the ten man contingent by virtue of seniority – his cadet number is the lowest because amongst the ten, he was the first go get into the Academy – they are still the same rank. Harry had not been given a temporary rank for this deployment, so he is also cadet fourth class.

Harry nodded, "Acknowledged," he replied. Edward had been assigned as his executive officer for the deployment because he was second senior, the fact that he and Harry are bunkmates and are number four and five – respectively – in their class had nothing to do with how authority was delegated.

"You still do not agree with this assignment, Harry?" Edward asked as he fell in beside his temporary commanding officer – making sure to fall in to the left of Harry, since the right hand side is the position of honor.

Harry paused in his steps – they were on their way to the stairs that would take them to the cavernous hold of the ship where their designated transports are waiting for them – before he turned his attention toward his old friend. With a sigh, he said, "Ours is not the question the wisdom behind the decision of our commanding officers."

Harry was sure that had it been someone who ranked higher than him who had said that, Edward would have stopped asking question. As it was, however, he and Edward are not only the same rank, they had been friends for quite some time now, "You did not answer the question, Harry," he observed.

"Fine," Harry replied as he resumed walking, his executive officer following him. A sigh escaped the lips of Harry before he continued, "Yes, I do not agree with this deployment."

A chuckle escaped from the lips of Edward as he opened the door for his temporary superior, revealing a set of stairs that lead downwards, "You better not let anyone hear you say that," he warned, though from the mirth that colored his tone, it was obvious that he truly does not care.

Harry shook his head, "My objections to this deployment are on record with my liege lord," he replied. It was true that he had met with his liege lord in order to present his opinion, but it was not the deployment that Harry has a problem with, it was the location where the deployment was supposed to happen.

In the humble opinion of Harry, it was better to camp on the _other_ side of the Forbidden Forest. The mission was to hunt for separatist and extremist, and Harry knew that most of those, he could find _inside_ the walls of Hogwarts. It made no sense to him that they would deploy beside the very people that they are supposed to be hunting, and even more, it made no absolute sense to Harry that his father actually sent a letter to the Headmaster informing said Headmaster of not only their imminent arrival, but implied on their mission.

Everything that Harry had been taught since he had entered Annapolis – and since his first year in Olympia Academy – had always said that the element of surprise is very important, but his father – presumably under orders from their liege lord – had thrown away that surprise.

"There must be a reason why we had received instructions to deploy where we were ordered to deploy, Harry," Edward said. He paused for a few moments before he asked in a serious tone, "You've already considered that, haven't you?"

Harry nodded, "Yes," he admitted, "but I cannot figure out what the hidden order is, Edward," he shook his head before he added, "By this time, I should have already figured it out, if I was supposed to figure it out."

"So maybe you are not supposed to figure it out?" Edward suggested. Harry looked at him incredulously, but before the black-haired cadet could say anything, Edward quickly added, "Look, you've always been the brighter between the two of us, have you realized that perhaps you were sent here because you've always been one to dissect your instructions?"

"And that is bad?" Harry asked.

"Not necessarily," Edward replied before Harry could say anything. There was a brief pause before the brown-haired cadet added, "Look, Harry, unlike me, your family is ennobled, so your chances of becoming a staff-rank or even a flag-rank officer is very high, maybe they are trying to teach you to stick to your orders because when it is your turn to give orders and we are at war, your subordinates would have no time to dissect your instructions to them?"

For a few moments, Harry did not say anything, "They could have just told me directly," he commented under his breath.

"What good would that do?" Edward asked, "We both know that that would not work."

For a few moments, the only sound that echoed around the two men came from the sound of their footsteps as they descended the metal stairs. Harry was the first to break the silence with a chuckle as he realized that what his bunkmate was saying is true.

"Which truck do you want?" Harry asked a few moments later, "The first or the second?"

Unlike the soldiers of 'C' Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division, the naval cadets under the command of Harry had been assigned to travel to the deployment area aboard stretched Land Rovers. The soldiers would travel to the deployment area aboard armored personnel carriers, though the highest ranking officers would have staff cars and a few stretched Land Rovers as well.

"I'll take the first truck," Edward replied as he opened the door at the very bottom of the stairwell. Behind the door that the cadet opened, a cavernous interior waited. The cargo hold of the vessel was big enough to carry the men and equipment of an entire infantry brigade – though not necessarily an armored brigade.

"It won't be a race," Harry reminded his executive officer as they stepped into the interior of the cargo hold. The temperature in the cargo hold was several degrees higher than outside of it, but that was because of the fact that the engine of every single vehicle inside the cargo hold was turned on.

Edward smirked toward Harry, "That attitude is the reason why you lost Victoria," he said knowingly.

A sigh escaped through the lips of Harry before he smirked toward his executive officer, "If I had not gracefully bowed out of that competition, my friend, you would not have a girlfriend," he said knowingly.

Edward, however, merely smiled back toward Harry, "Even if you were in that race, my friend, I still would have won," he shook his head before he added, "In a way, I wish you were in the race, that would have made my victory all that much sweeter."

Harry shook his head as he watched his executive officer climb into the first Land Rover that was assigned to them, though before Edward could close the door, Harry quickly shouted toward the direction of his friend, "Your attitude, Ed, makes me wonder exactly what Victoria saw in you."

**17 Clarence Way, London**

**England, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 16, 1995**

The uniformed servant bowed once toward the general direction of the occupants of the room before he walked backward and retreated out of the meeting room. He had no illusion that whatever it was that was about to be discussed inside the room was a secret, and aside from the fact that he had signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding the things that he may or may not hear in this job, he also knew that if the enemies of the Holy Empire were to suspect that he knew something, they would not hesitate to extract that information from his brain using whatever method that they would find efficient.

Of the three occupants inside the meeting room, it was the sole female who had paid attention – albeit scant – at the uniformed servant as he retreated from the room. She fought the urge to smirk as she noted the intimidated stance of the man, though in hindsight, she realized that she should have seen that coming.

Lily Marie Evans-Potter allowed herself one last look at the door as it was closing before she returned her attention toward the two other people inside the room with her.

She watched in silence as her husband took one of the tea cups that the servant had brought in and a small smile graced the face of Lily as she did so. She was well aware that if someone had told her when she was eleven years old that James Potter would someday be her husband; she would have laughed at the face of whoever that person is and claim that that is impossible. Destiny, however, would not be denied and as soon as James stopped bullying people just because he was bored – and stopped acting like a child in general – Lily fell hard for him. They married less than a year after they graduated from Hogwarts, and from their happy union came two children.

Of those two children, one is currently still studying at Olympia, but the elder one – Harry – is already doing his duty to the Holy Empire, and is actually the reason for this impromptu meeting that their liege lord had called for despite the fact that it was nearing twelve midnight.

Lily felt the hand of her husband over hers, prompting her to turn her attention toward him, a questioning look evident on her face. James smiled at her before he carefully handed her the tea that he was preparing, and against that, Lily could do nothing but smile widely in thanks before she took the cup.

James watched his wife for a few moments before he turned his attention toward the only other person in the room with him, his surprise evident on his face, though his surprise was more the result of the fact that the other person is alone, rather than with his partner.

Appearances could be deceiving, James knew, and as he stared at the man to whom he owe his loyalty to, he could not help but be struck by just how real that is when it comes to this man.

At just over twenty five years of age, he is younger than both James and Lily by a good ten years, but one needs only to look at him once to sense the power that flows within him, a power that has nothing to do with magic, but with his blood.

One of the twelve grandchildren of Empress Elizabeth, Lord High Admiral Duke Sir Alexander Charles York is the eldest York of his generation. That distinction would normally someday see him seated at the Golden Throne, but because Lord Alexander is the son of the third child of the Empress, Lord Alexander could never legally inherit. In a way, however, that knowledge proved more boon than bane, for it was precisely that knowledge that the young lord had used to better himself.

A graduate of Olympia Academy, second in his batch, he entered the Imperial Naval Academy at the age of fifteen and graduated at the head of his class at the age of nineteen. At twenty five, he is in command of one of the four standing fleets of the Holy Empire and is ranked High Admiral, OF-11, the second highest rank in the Holy Empire, and he attained that rank through a combination of politics and actual military contribution – he served with the Home Fleet during the conflict with the Confederate States of the Amazons and with the Colonial Fleet during the Gulf War, distinguishing himself in both regional conflicts. Nowadays, no one would dare question his appointment as commander of the Grand Fleet.

He had also been recently named Prince of Wales and Prince of Scotland, a birthday present from his grandmother who was most pleased with his accomplishments.

"Lord James," Lord Alexander said, loud enough that his voice alone was enough to tear the Viscount of Lisbourne from his reverie and make him turn his full attention toward his liege lord, "Is something the matter?"

"Forgive me, Your Grace," James replied as he politely inclined his head toward the direction of the Duke of New York – the preferred title of Lord Alexander, James knew. He fixed his attention toward the Duke before James continued, "I was surprised that Lady Emma is not with you."

A smile graced the features of Lord Alexander – a smile that Lily was well aware would never fail to make an appearance whenever Lady Emma is mentioned – before he replied, "She sends her regrets, but her illness had progressed to the point that our physician had ordered her confined to bed," the Duke seemed distraught before he added, "I hope I don't catch it."

"Forgive me, Your Grace," Lily spoke, "Why not just sleep in a different bed?"

"Lady Emma and I had been sleeping in the same bed since we were eleven years old, Lady Lily," Lord Alexander replied, his tone amused and devoid of any indication that he had taken offense at the suggestion of Lily, "The four years that I had spent in the Academy was more than enough for us to never want to sleep in different beds ever again," he paused before he sighed theatrically and said, "but entertaining and informative our sleeping arrangements may be, my Lord and Lady, it is not the reason that I had asked for your presence."

Both James and Lily turned serious in response to the words of Lord Alexander. This was the man whom they swore their loyalty to nearly ten years ago. The man that both James and Lily swore they would follow, their liege lord.

"I imagine that Harry is still unhappy with the orders that he had received?" he asked rhetorically, before he turned his attention toward both James and Lily, "And as his parents, I imagine that you are also unhappy with the fact that your son had been sent to Hogwarts?"

The first question, both James and Lily knew, was rhetorical. The objections of Harry to the deployment orders that he had received, after all, was actually in written format and in the hands of Lord Alexander. The second question, however, was not.

Lord Alexander had noted the objections of Harry over the deployment order, but he was yet to ask either James or Lily for their opinion regarding the order. It appears that that day had come.

The silence that descended around the room was deafening, but James soon remedied the situation when he said, "No, Your Grace, we are both not unhappy with the orders that Harry had been given."

"Yet, your use of the negative suggests to me that you have reservations regarding this movement," Lord Alexander said. It was not a question, and though James looked ready to answer, Lord Alexander prevented him from saying anything when he raised his hand and motioned for James to stop, "You are not unhappy with this move because you both know the reason that I had asked Harry to go to that school, my Lord James."

James and Lily nodded, "If only we could have told him, Your Grace, then he would probably be enthusiastic about this order," Lily replied.

For a few moments, the Duke of New York stared at his two subordinates. The look of steel in the eyes of the Duke could unnerve the toughest of men, and both James and Lily knew, the Duke could intimidate even the two of them should he want to, but it was obvious that that is not the goal of the Duke today.

Once more, silence descended across the room, an uncomfortable silence that made James fidget uncomfortably. Lord Alexander caught the action of James and the young Duke smiled in amusement at that, before he shook his head and said, "Lord James, you have my permission to inform your son of the real reason that he and his classmates had been sent to Hogwarts."

"My Lord?" James asked, he blinked, twice, before he continued, "It might not be easy for Harry and his classmates to gain access to the castle, would it not be better if we are to inform them of the reason when you visit at the end of the week?"

Lord Alexander shook his head, "The sooner that they start, the sooner that they would find that accursed object, Lord James," he said. He paused for a few moments before a sigh escaped from his lips and he added, "You were the one who convinced me of the importance of locating this item, my Lord, surely, you know better than anyone how important it is to find it."

For a few moments, James could only stare at his liege lord. He turned his attention toward his wife a few moments later, and she gave him a nod. That was all that James needed, he turned his attention toward Lord Alexander and said, "With your permission, Your Grace, I would send a letter by secure owl post to my son, informing him of the real reason that he had been sent to Hogwarts."

Lord Alexander nodded, "You have my permission, Lord James," he replied formally, "and let us all hope that he finds that item as soon as possible."

**P14A410 OPERATION HERMIONE Page 31**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

* * *

**TWO**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 17, 1995**

Albus Dumbledore could not help but sigh as a house-elf brought him his morning tea.

The Headmaster of Hogwarts sat inside the staff room, and arrayed before him was his teaching staff, most of them looking worse for wear as they tried to digest the information that the Headmaster had just delivered to them. Albus recalled with amusement when most of them actually turned their attention toward Minerva as if they wanted her to confirm the thing that the Headmaster had said.

Of course, Minerva nodded, though she did not really say anything, and it amused the Headmaster all the more. Albus was well aware of his reputation as an eccentric and the fact that he constantly says things that most people could barely understand. It stands to reason that the staff would think that he was pulling their leg on this matter, though in private, the Headmaster actually wished that he was pulling the leg of his staff.

Nothing would please him more.

Albus mentally shook his head, however, and forced himself to return to the present. His teaching staff was still in the middle of digesting the information that he had just provided, and as the Headmaster had suspected, he had already pegged the reaction of his colleagues even before this meeting had began.

Seated to the right hand side of the Headmaster, Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall was as silent as the Headmaster, her face showing no outward sign of either alarm or acceptance, though Albus knew that the reason for that cold neutrality was as much as the fact that she was already aware that the muggles and that there is nothing that they could do about it as much as her self control.

On the other side of the Headmaster sat Filius Flitwick, the resident charms master and one of the two people in the school that could actually stand up against the Headmaster. The diminutive professor – the offspring of an unlikely love between humans and goblins – looked positively ecstatic about the thought of meeting muggles, though the Headmaster knew that that mostly had something to do with Filius believing that he could learn a lot from the muggles.

Like the students in his Ravenclaw House, Filius Flitwick is always on the lookout for knowledge, and it would appear that he considers this coming experience to be one, despite the fact that he knew that he is likely going to be at the list of the coming muggle military due to the fact that he has goblin blood running in his veins.

Everyone knew that the muggle government based in mainland Britannia barely tolerates goblins for the reason that the goblins had been the ones to help the French Emperor into the British Isles during the early years of the last century.

The Head of Hufflpuff House, Pomona Sprout, also looked happy with this development. For the life of him, though, Albus could not figure out why Pomona is happy. Sure, she might exemplify the traits of her house – friendly, hard-working, and loyal – but the Headmaster could not see how that would affect the situation right now.

Certainly, Pomona would not be able to acquire new plantings from the coming muggles, they are soldiers after all. Unwilling to risk the ire of his professors, however, Albus had to resist the urge to use a passive legilimancy scan in order to know the surface of the thoughts of the Head of Hufflepuff House.

The jovial attitudes of the two Heads of Houses – and the neutral mood of the other, Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor – was in sharp contrast to the sour – and outright hostility – mood of the last Head of House.

Albus sighed at that, and reminded himself that this was expected. In fact, the Headmaster knew that if the reaction of the Head of Slytherin was different, he would be very, very worried.

Severus Snape exemplified the qualities of Slytherin House. The youngest potions master in Britain – and in the world when he earned his mastery at the age of twenty – is ambitious and cunning. For all these traits, however, Severus also inherited the one flaw that most members of the House have, a misguided belief that being magicals, they are far superior to the muggles. Even worse, despite being a half-blood himself, Severus was a believer in blood supremacy, so much so that he was a member of the Death Eaters, though he switched sides prior to the demise of the Dark Lord.

It could even be argued that the Dark Lord met his first banishment because of the Head of Slytherin House, but that was a story for a different time, and as the Headmaster reminded himself of that, he once more had to force himself to return to the present.

The staring and silent arguments of his professors had stopped by the time that the Headmaster had gone through the looks on the faces of his four Heads of Houses. The other professors were mostly neutral, though that had more to do with the fact that they had realized that the Headmaster had accepted things as they are. Albus need not to scan their minds to know that the other professors of Hogwarts are thinking that if he found this acceptable, then so would they.

The Headmaster had to fight the urge to shake his head, and he found himself wishing that his professors could have opinions for themselves.

"Headmaster," the impromptu silence that had descended into the room following the announcement of the Headmaster was broken by the silky tone of the Head of Slytherin.

Albus turned his attention toward Severus Snape, a questioning look on his face, even as he wondered exactly how Severus was able to actually make his voice silky. Further thoughts on the matter, however, was quickly put to a halt as the potions master continued, "Surely, you are not going to allow this to continue," and despite the fact that the voice appeared as if it was delivered by a confident man, there was a hint of desperation in it.

Albus truly does not want to drive Severus into a corner, in the figurative sense. In this case, however, the Headmaster felt that he had no choice. Certainly, Minerva would tell him that, and as the Headmaster turned his attention toward his Deputy, he saw her give him a nod before she sneered toward the direction of Severus. Fortunately, the Head of Slytherin was too busy staring at the Headmaster to notice the look that his superior was giving him.

A sigh escaped through the lips of the Headmaster of Hogwarts before he returned his attention toward the Head of Slytherin. The sour look on the face of Severus now has the faintest hint of desperation in it, and it was growing by the second.

The Headmaster wondered what it is about the coming muggle army that had his potions master worried. Surely, Severus was not of the opinion that he would be given to the muggles? In any case, Albus was sure that his potions master had done nothing that would earn him the enmity of the muggles. If anything, Severus actually despise being near them.

"There is nothing that could be done against these instructions, Severus," Albus replied in his grandfatherly voice. He did not even bother to attempt to lace his voice with a compulsion charm because the Headmaster knew that that would not sway his potions master.

Severus blinked, twice, at the statement of the Headmaster. It was clear that he was hoping that the Headmaster would do a quick double-take and take back what he had just said or, barring that, that he had heard the wrong thing. Unfortunately for him, the Headmaster had said exactly what he wanted to say, and nothing more was coming out of the mouth of Albus Dumbledore.

"This is madness, Headmaster!" Severus added a few moments later, his tone an evidence of the fact that he had lost his patience. Albus was actually surprised that the young man had not seen fit to rise to his feet and slam his palms on the surface in front of him.

The Headmaster watched with a neutral – almost passive – expression on his face as the Head of Slytherin turned toward his colleagues and delivered a warning, "The muggles would begin to order us around," he warned them passionately, but unfortunately for him, no one was willing to listen to him.

Severus seem aware of this, himself, and after a few moments of staring at his colleagues – possibly in the hope of eliciting some response from them, though he was unsuccessful in that regard – he returned his attention toward the Headmaster, and said, "Surely, something could be done," he said, and as if a bright idea had entered his head at that moment, he suggested something that would naturally cause everyone in the room to gasp not only in its boldness, but in its sheer stupidity, "We could fight them," he offered.

That was the time that Albus decided that enough was enough. Severus Snape might not have seen fit to stand and slam his palms on the surface in front of him, but Albus Dumbledore was not beyond that.

Mustering his considerable powers around him, Albus jumped to his feet – quite spry for someone his age – and slammed both of his palms in the surface in front of him. The resounding noise caused by the Headmaster's action caused everyone in the room to flinch, with a few of the younger and newer professors actually backing away from the table – and away from the Headmaster – as they felt his innate magic assault them.

"We will do no such thing," the Headmaster said, and though he was not looking at anyone in general when he made the announcement, everyone in the room – including Snape himself – knew who the target was. If there was any doubt as to the identity of that person, however, that soon disappeared when Albus turned his attention toward the young potions master and qualified his statements, and in so doing, managed to name the person to whim his recent words were directed at, "Do you even know what you are suggesting, Severus? It would mean not only the revelation of our world, but also its ruin."

Normally, the Headmaster beginning to tear into him would have silenced the Potions Master, but this time, Severus was not one for backing down. "The fact that they are coming here means that they are already aware of our world, Headmaster," the sour-faced man replied, he still maintained his seat despite the fact that it was obvious that he wants to stand, if only to stop looking up as he met the gaze of the Headmaster, "We need to fight now because sooner or later, they would come in force and put shackles on our necks."

"The muggles that are coming here are muggle soldiers, Severus," Albus replied. Aware of the fact that he nearly lost his temper at his youngest Head of House, the Headmaster was consciously keeping himself in check. A sigh escaped from the Headmaster before he added, "They are trained to kill, trained to fight battles, Severus, and with our numbers, we cannot win against them, not when there are three thousand of them," he shook his head before he answered, "And this is a school."

Apparently, the Potions Master did not consider those facts, though in his defense, he was unaware of the first two facts. It was, however, disturbing that he truly did not care even if Hogwarts was a school, and that any subsequent conflict – like the one that he was pushing to start – was liable to cause casualties amongst the student population.

When Severus next spoke, it was clear that he had been taken aback by the announcements, though it was also clear that he was not one for backing down, "The fortifications…," he tried.

This time, it was Filius who shot down his arguments, "Not even with the wards could we withstand a muggle siege," he replied. Albus turned his attention toward his Charms Professor, the same disbelief that was written on the face of Severus echoed upon his face. It was clear that the Headmaster – while aware of the power behind the muggle war-machine – was of the opinion that the wards of Hogwarts could withstand a siege from the muggles. Filius took great delight in pointing out just how wrong the Headmaster and his bigoted Potions Master was, "Their land-howitzers alone could collapse our wards and the walls of this castle with a few rounds, never mind the batteries that they carry aboard their battleships."

The Headmaster stared at his charms professor and was about to remind him that the heavy magic that permeates the very air around the school would have prevented the muggles from bringing in their heavy equipment, but with a start, the Headmaster realized that that might no longer be applicable. Certainly, those floating ships that the muggles are so fond of building – at the costs of millions, if not billions, of money – have components that are magical. How else could those colossal things fly if not for runes etched inside their steel hulls?

Instead of arguing that the school could withstand a muggle siege, the Headmaster just nodded. By this time, he had also realized that allowing the castle to be besieged would mean untold casualties amongst the students, considering that there are muggle-born and half-blood students amongst the population, and it is likely that those students would support the ones besieging the castle rather than the ones who are defending them.

"I think Severus has to be reminded of the consequences of denying the Golden Throne," Filius said a few moments later. The neutral tone of the professor was a sharp contrast to the message behind the message. There was no doubt that what the professor had just said was a threat, and Severus was smart enough to see that.

The potions master turned his attention toward the diminutive professor – no doubt incentives ready to be hurled – but before the youngest of the four Heads of Houses could say anything, Pomona said, "Death," before she stared at her young colleague who looked ready to take offense and announced, "You took the Oath when you became a professor, Professor Snape, deny the Golden Throne and the servants of the Britannian Empress, and you risk your very life."

Severus looked ready to continue arguing, but a pointed glare from the Headmaster was more than enough to get him to back down. In any case, the potions master realized that what his colleagues are saying was true. He did took the Oath, and with that, defeated, the young potions master retook his seat.

The Headmaster resumed his seat as he willed himself to calm down. After a few moments, he turned toward his Deputy Headmistress and said, "Perhaps having some students who are versed in muggle culture liaise with the muggle military would be called for," he suggested, "Might I look to you, Minerva, to organize a group for this purpose?"

Minerva looked at Albus for a few moments, before she nodded, "I'll start with the muggle-born students, Albus," she replied. For a few moments, she looked as if she wanted to add something, but seemingly thinking better of it, she held her mouth.

The Headmaster, however, spotted her with an open mouthed expression, and from the years that they had been working together, he was easily able to identify the expression. Albus suspected that whatever it was that Minerva was about to tell him, it was something that he would not appreciate, but he also knew that even if Minerva was holding back now, sooner or later, she would be unable to hold it back. With a rising sense of trepidation, Albus asked Minerva, "What is it, Minerva?"

The Deputy Headmistress hesitated for a few moments, but after a while, she gave the Headmaster a nod and asked, "What do you think about incorporating some pureblood and half-blood students in the liaison group?"

Predictably, it was Severus who replied first. The words that came out of his mouth was also something that was expected, "No pureblood would want to be caught in the company of muggles," the potions master said.

Minerva took offense at the statement and was about to reply to that effect, but before she could do so, the Headmaster returned to the fray, "While I think the idea has merits, I am afraid that right now is not the proper time to be experimenting," he said. Minerva also took offense at that statement but again, she was caught off without being able to say anything, "This is the first time that we would be hosting muggles, I think that it would be in the better interest of everyone involved if we are to appoint liaisons who would not be in danger of committing anything that the muggles might take offense at."

Minerva looked ready to argue, but she conceded that the Headmaster was right. With a disappointed and a hesitant look on her face, she gave him a nod, "I'll meet with the students after lunch, Albus," she said. She paused for a few moments before she asked, "If there is nothing else?"

Albus nodded, "There is nothing else," he confirmed, before he turned his attention to the rest of the staff and said, "This could be the beginning of a new era of relations between the magical and the muggle world, and Hogwarts could rightly claim to be the place where it first started," he smiled benignly before he added, "Let us not make any mistakes with this."

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 17, 1995**

Minerva and the students inside her classroom were seated in relative silence even as they pretended to have their full attention toward the direction of their professor. It was rather difficult for them, however, to keep their eyes toward that direction whenever the door to the classroom would open and another student would enter the room, the confusion evident on the face of that student the moment that he or she would see that he or she was not the only one summoned by the strict transfiguration mistress of Hogwarts.

That confusion that the person entering the room felt was reflected on the faces of those who were already inside the room. Still, they kept their mouths shut as they watched in relative silence as the newly arrived student would pick a chair to seat and join the growing class that was waiting.

At first, those inside the room – aside from the Deputy Headmistress, of course, she was the one who summoned them after all – could not discern anything about their companions that would single them out for this impromptu meeting. As far as they are concerned, all three houses are represented in this meeting – the fourth house, Slytherin, was considered by the other three houses as existing only on the edge and barely a member of Hogwarts – but then they slowly realized there common denominator. It also made sense, once one had taken that factor into consideration, why there are no Slytherins in the room with them.

All of the students inside the room were born and raised in the muggle world. They had no idea that magic existed until they were eleven and until they received a visit from a Hogwarts professor, and for many of those now inside the room, the professor that they had been staring at for the past ten minutes was the professor who had visited them.

As if by some unseen signal, Minerva stood from her chair, her action emulated by everyone inside the room who realized that they are about to be told the reason that they had been asked for.

"Sit," Minerva replied in a neutral tone. It was the same tone that she used whenever she is teaching in this very classroom, so none of those gathered in front of her would take offense. When all of the students had resumed their seat, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts allowed herself a second or two in order to study the faces of her audience.

She was well aware that the Slytherins would label this meeting as a gathering of mudbloods and those who are not worthy to study magic, and while she wished that she could correct those stupid notions, she is well aware that the Headmaster would just contradict her. Albus might listen to her, but in some things, the age of the man showed. One could not teach an old puppy new trick, after all.

The Deputy Headmistress is also aware that the Slytherins might label this as a meeting of those who are probably failing in their class, given that some of the students here are amongst those who would need remedial lessons, but that would be an incorrect notion. Minerva turned her head slightly toward her right hand side and allowed a small smile to come across her face.

The reason that this meeting could not be called a meeting of dunce is because of the fact that Hermione Granger is amongst those who are called for today. The girl had single-handedly raised the general average of her class five points since her first exam when she was a first year student five years ago. She is now set to break every academic record that she had not yet already broken, an achievement that was accomplished by a muggle-born student only once before, and that student was Lily Potter.

The pride that Minerva feels for Hermione Granger, however, included the pride that the old Scottish teacher feels as the mentor of the young woman. Hermione is also in her house and that had allowed her the chance to monitor her progress far more closely than she would have had otherwise.

"Tonight, the Headmaster would be making an announcement regarding a number of visitors arriving at Hogwarts and would be staying indefinitely," the Deputy Headmistress said. As she had expected, the students perked up at the announcement. The only time that they have had visitors worth commenting upon was last year when the Triwizard Tournament was held at Hogwarts.

"Our visitors are not like those visitors that the school had hosted before," Minerva replied, instantly commanding all the attention in the room and stopping any mental conversation that might have began amongst those who believed that they could do something like that – fortunately, neither Minerva nor the other professors had found evidence that it could be done. The Deputy Headmistress did note that Hermione kept her attention toward Minerva with a neutral expression.

A soft sigh escaped through the lips of Minerva at that. Hermione is a smart and intelligent girl, but she is so smart and intelligent that she almost consistently fail to connect with her peers. Older students dislike her because more often than not, the questions that those students could not answer are easy for Hermione, while the younger students gravitate toward her in the beginning because of her caring attitude and her willingness to help them, until the older students get to the younger ones and begin spinning tales about Hermione.

It frustrated Minerva to no end, but there was nothing that she could do about it. She could not even advise Hermione for the girl had not come to her, though it was fortunate that Hermione had learned her lessons regarding helping certain students who only come to her when it is time for exams and home works. Minerva only wished that the lesson was as not as painful as it was.

"The visitors of Hogwarts," Minerva continued, "would be muggles," and before the gathered students could murmur amongst themselves, she added, "they are muggle soldiers who had been ordered to go to Hogwarts."

This time, Minerva did allow the murmuring – even the outright conversations – to continue. The students seem to take her silence as permission to begin speaking, and that was exactly what they did, missing the fact that as soon as Minerva had finished speaking, Hermione had raised her hand in an attempt to catch the attention of the professor.

Minerva acknowledged Hermione a second later, and the sixteen year old Gryffindor stood before she asked, "Professor, _Hogwarts, a History_ clearly states that muggles are unable to see the school," she said, "How would they be able to visit the school if they could not even see it?"

'_That's a good question,'_ Minerva thought to herself, '_and one that I, unfortunately, do not have the answer to.'_

"I am afraid that I do not know the answer to that question, Miss Granger," Minerva replied, acknowledging her shortcomings was easier when it was to Hermione. Minerva had learned a long time ago that it was easier to accept the fact that a professor is not an infinite fount of knowledge, and the Deputy Headmistress is also aware that Hermione takes it personally if a professor would pretend that she knows the answer even if she does not.

"I suspect, though," Minerva continued, once more forcing all the students to turn their attention toward her once more before they start speculating. Normally, she would welcome her students speculating about something, because through speculation, they might learn something. Things are hardly normal right now, though, and Minerva does not want to waste time, "that it might have something to do with the Oath that every soldier in the service of the Golden Throne of the Holy Empire."

Hermione perked up at that, and Minerva had no doubt that she is familiar with the Oath, probably having read it somewhere. Then again, Minerva remembered that an uncle of Hermione is in service with the Imperial Navy. The transfiguration professor had seen portraits of the younger brother of the father of Hermione wearing an Imperial Navy uniform when she was at their house.

"Regardless of how they would see the castle," Minerva continued, "The fact remains that they are coming here," she paused for a few moments before she continued, "I doubt that the men who have been appointed to command these men are idiots who have no idea that ordinary muggles could not see Hogwarts, and I do know from the letter that the Headmaster had received that this movement was ordered by the newly appointed Prince of Scotland himself."

Minerva noted that Hermione perked up once more, and this time, it was at the mention of the prince, but the transfiguration professor dismissed it as something of minor importance, she had a far more important task to do right now, and she returned her attention toward the other students, "You had been asked here because all of you have been born and raised in the muggle world," she said, and she frowned before she added, "You know that world, which is something that not many of your pureblood and half-blood schoolmates could claim," she frowned further as she said, "The Headmaster had also seen fit to veto my proposal to have pureblood students here so that they could learn about the muggles," she shook her head at that.

Hermione stared at the Deputy Headmistress for a few moments as the older woman shook her head. She already knew the reason that she and her fellow muggle-born students had been asked for, and she wondered how many others had seen the request that their transfiguration professor was about to make of them.

'_Probably not many of them,'_ the intelligent brown-haired young girl thought to herself. She had long ago made the observation that those born on the other side of the great muggle-magical divide are completely lacking in common sense. Apparently, those who are born on the side of the muggles also begin to lose their ability to think logically the moment that they step through that line, _'I suppose that it is understandable,'_ the young girl thought to herself, '_when you are surrounded by things that defy normal logic, then certainly, you do not use logic anymore'_

Hermione, however, managed to keep her grasp at logic because in the mind of the young woman, although she is in a magical place where things that could not be explained by normal logic are happening every day, there has got to be an explanation, so she file the things that she sees in the hopes that she could someday return to figure them out. It helps that she has an eidetic memory.

Taking all things into consideration, Hermione knew that her professor was about to ask her to assist them in accommodating these muggles. A soft smile came across the face of the intelligent young woman at that.

"The Headmaster had asked that you be appointed as liaisons between the school and these muggles," Minerva said, forcing Hermione back into the present. The small smile on the face of the young woman blossomed into a full blown one as she just heard the confirmation from her professor that what she was thinking was indeed the correct answer.

"However, this does not mean that you can cozy up to them," Minerva warned a few of the young women seated at the back who were probably thinking how romantic it would be to form an illicit relationship between student and soldiers.

Hermione would have banged her head at the surface in front of her for that. These soldiers are professionals; there was no way that they would allow themselves to be led like that, even if the ones who are trying to do the leading are muggle-born students.

"Miss Granger?" Minerva asked, forcing Hermione back to the present once more. She really wish that she could have had words with those two muggle-born third years at the back though, but that would not be good for her record. Hermione turned her attention toward her professor, a questioning look pasted on her face, and Minerva did not even bother with small talk, "Would you accept this request?" she asked.

As with Minerva, there was no hesitation on the part of Hermione. She gave her professor a nod before she replied, "Yes, professor," in the most neutral voice that she could possibly muster. Hermione was not sure if she had succeeded in that regard though, because there was no doubt that at that moment, she felt happy at the thought of meeting someone who has at least a bit of common sense at her school. It would be nice to be able to speak with someone who could logically argue instead of falling back to the age old tactic of claiming that that was how things had always been again.

'**C' Brigade Field Position, a few kilometers south of Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 27, 1995**

Harry snapped a salute the moment that he entered the command vehicle through its rear hatch. The vehicle was resting on the side of the road, other specialist vehicles located to its front and rear, waiting for the instructions from the brigade commander to resume their advance.

Harry was unsure of the reason, but the brigade had been ordered to the side of the road and the brigadier general in command of the brigade had called for his battalion commanders to meet with him at his command vehicle.

It just so happened that Harry was also asked to report in and the young naval cadet walked into the rear of the FV521 Command and Control Vehicle that was the temporary headquarters of the brigade commander just in time to see the Brigadier General brief his battalion commanders. From the way that one of the three colonels was just being handed his tea, Harry was sure that the briefing had just begun.

Brigadier General Winston Arnott, commander of 'C' Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division, had his back turned toward Harry when the young cadet entered the rear of the command vehicle. The Brigadier was watching his aides propped a map of what Harry assumed to be Hogwarts against the wall of the interior with his hands folded across his chest.

He surely gave the impression that he is not a man to be crossed with and as Harry stood there with his right hand stuck in a salute position, he tried to remember the few tidbits of information that he had been given about this man.

A graduate of the Imperial Military Academy at West Point, New York, Winston Arnott was initially trained as an infantryman before transferring to Special Operations where he earned both his parachute device and his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. He had been appointed commander of 3rd Battalion, 'C' Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division on his thirty fifth birthday, and was bumped up – as it were – to command the brigade two years later. He had been in command for three years now and had proven that he is the right man for the job.

As if to prove that, he had been chosen for this operation. Harry was aware that the commander and the unit that was chosen to go to Hogwarts were hand-picked by the Prince. It spoke of the confidence that Lord Alexander had with the man.

Any further musings on the part of Harry, however, were quickly put to a hold as the Brigadier turned to face him. Harry kept his hand up and himself at full attention, not taking his eyes off the spot that he had been staring at as the Brigadier looked him up and down. After what seemed like a long time to Harry, the Brigadier casually returned the salute of Harry before he motioned for the young man to join the three colonels who were already seated at the bench.

Unfortunately, that bench could only hold three people, forcing Harry to take a position next to the seating battalion commanders and assume a parade rest position while the Brigadier walked next to the map that his aides had propped up. Harry was hardly surprised when the Brigadier did not draw a stick to point at the map, it was a custom that was dying and there truly was no need for it anyway.

"Gentlemen," Brigadier Arnott began, and although he said 'gentlemen', at the moment that the last syllable left his mouth, he turned his peripheral vision toward Harry. Even if it was just his peripheral vision, the general was actually able to give Harry an evil eye that would have made the young cadet fidget around had he not forcibly reminded himself that he is in a briefing being conducted by a superior officer.

Of course, because Harry was too focused on remaining himself impassive, he missed the slight movement on the face of the brigadier. The young cadet had failed to notice that because he did not cringe; his standing in the book of Brigadier General Arnott had gone up one notch. That places him in the first notch.

"This is Hogwarts Castle," the brigadier continued, returning his full attention toward the group rather than just at Harry. "Near as we can figure, there are probably six to seven hundred people inside this castle right now," and with a pointed glare, he quickly added, "And when I see people, I mean living people, we did not count the numerous ghosts, magical portraits, and heaven knows what else that call this place home."

He paused for effect before he glared at his three battalion commanders – and actually missing Harry this time – and said, "This is where our mission is going to be," before he added, "His Highness, the Prince is worried about the alarming and almost exponential growth of dissent and separatists within Scotland, and has tasked this brigade with securing this castle from any and all attempts to wrest it from the control of the Empress."

No one inside the command vehicle – not even the aides of the brigadier or the driver who was seated at the front and pretending that he was not listening – need an explanation for the last words that had left the mouth of their commander. It was no secret to those who are in the know about the magical world that the magical world is only kept in line by the power of the oaths that they had been forced to take. Outright contempt was the order of the day when it comes to the magical world dealing with the non-magical world.

"We would deploy as detailed in this map," the Brigadier continued even as one of his aides handed over smaller copies of the map that hung from the wall to the three colonels who took them without saying anything before poring over them. The fact that three of his four audience was no longer looking – or perhaps even listening – to him did not bother the brigadier at the slightest, he just continued, "1st battalion would deploy close to the edge of the lake, you will have the responsibility of guarding that infiltration point, so I want to see patrols there," the colonel commanding 1st battalion nodded his acknowledgement of the instruction, but Brigadier General Arnott did not even bother to return the nod, "2nd battalion would deploy closest to the gates, should worse come to worse, your men would either be manning the walls or be the first to storm the castle."

The colonel commanding 2nd Battalion did not look happy with his set of instructions, but chose to say nothing. Harry got the distinct impression that the colonel was actually intimidated by the Brigadier, and that was the only thing that Harry needed to see in order to know that this colonel is the newest of the bunch. The colonel who was originally in command of the battalion had been promoted and was posted his own brigade to command, placing this new man in the position. It was painfully obvious that the new colonel was not used to the general and Harry silently wondered if the man would become a hindrance should anything go wrong, and he was in charge of probably the most important aspect of this operation.

Harry returned his attention toward the commander of 'C' Brigade and found himself wondering if that was the plan of Brigadier General Arnott in the first place. The man seems to delight in frightening his subordinates, but he is not the first that Harry had met who does that. It was probably the Brigadier's method of weeding out those that would inevitably fail, and it reminded Harry of his own first day at Annapolis when the senior cadets proceeded to run them through a gauntlet designed to break all but the most willing.

"3rd Battalion would be kept in reserve," Brigadier General Arnott continued, "Should either 1st or 2nd Battalion require assistance, 3rd Battalion would provide that assistance," he paused for a few moments, likely to afford his battalion commanders time to digest their instructions and run it through their heads, before he turned his attention toward Harry and said, "Cadet Leader Potter, you and your cadets are going to have the most unenviable job of all," and the grin that suddenly appeared on the face of the general caused Harry to worry at exactly what the commander was going to make them do.

Harry was aware that the Brigadier General could not order him and his cadets to do a mission on their own. The commanding officer has a wide latitude of orders that he could give to the cadets that are accompanying him and his unit into an operational area, but sending them out on their own is outside of that latitude. The commander _could_ send cadets out with active units to do a live-fire and actual mission, but to do so would require the ascent of not only the cadets themselves – and that was almost always given – but also of the training officer who was standing by back at where the cadets had came from, either Annapolis or West Point.

"Cadet Leader," Brigadier General Arnott continued, and the grin on his face got wider before he finally revealed the mission that he was giving Harry and his classmates, "You are to act as our liaisons with our hosts for the rest of your deployment with us," the general said, before he quickly added, "In addition to that, I expect you to come up with a schedule that would see at least four of your classmates inside that castle at any given time, two in my command staff so that they could learn the things that you had been sent here to learn, and the other four off-duty," he once more gave Harry the evil eye before he said, "I shall be inspecting that work schedule the moment we get to the castle, Cadet Leader."

"Yes, sir," Harry replied, consciously fighting against himself from replying in the traditional navy way of 'Aye, sir'. He had no idea how the brigadier would react to that, and Harry was reliably informed that some general officers – or even just officers – in the Army take offense at that.

"Very well then, Cadet, you are dismissed," Brigadier General Arnott said. It was obvious that the briefing was not yet over, but Harry saluted anyway, and once the salute was returned, he walked briskly out of the command vehicle. Once he was out of the vehicle, Brigadier General Arnott turned toward his battalion commanders and said, "Pile up as much work as you can on their shoulders without really breaking them, gentlemen," before he shook his head and said, "Lord Alexander had picked these ten himself, and although I am not competent enough to know what our liege is thinking, I know that he is expecting great things for these ten, else, he would not have sent them here."

The three colonels nodded, before the meeting descended into a question and answer portion as the commanders debated about contingencies that would be required for this operation.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 17, 1995**

The school staff stood in front of the gates of Hogwarts with a selected number of students behind them. The gathered group had their collective attention focused toward the direction of the road to the nearest town, Hogsmeade.

A few moments ago, they had received word from the town that a huge number of lights were heading toward the town. Predictably, the occupants of the village had no idea what was happening and thought the worst of things, which was why the letter that the Headmaster had received from them contained a codicil begging the Headmaster for assistance against – the people in the village thought – the monsters that are heading toward them.

It was amusing to see that despite the fact that they live in the magical world, they still fear the unknown, or perhaps it was precisely because of the fact that they live in the magical world that they fear the unknown.

Hermione stood with the rest of the students that had been chosen to liaise with the coming muggles behind the Headmaster and the senior staff. The young muggle-born witch wondered if the professors that now stood in front of them would be willing to take bullets for the students behind them should it prove ugly, but she realized that that was not something that she should be concerned about, and, in any case, that was unfair to the professors.

The first two headlights broke out of the gloom, and Hermione had to admit that the sudden appearance of the two lights surprised her. From the gasps that she heard on both of her sides, she was sure that the other students were surprised as well, and she knew the reason. After all, they had been told that the muggle technology does not work in Hogwarts.

A fundamental truth that Hermione and her fellow muggle-born students had accepted the first time that they stepped into Hogwarts had been broken because those two headlights that are coming toward them was attached to the front of a olive-colored Land Rover.

The murmurings of disbelief of the professors – even Professor McGonagall included – however, told Hermione that not even her favorite professor was aware that the claim that technology and magic does not work is a lie, but before Hermione could comment on that – in her mind, of course, anywhere else would be insubordination – her attention was forced back to the road as two more sets of lights appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

The first truck pulled up just in front of the gates to the school, with the second and the third just behind it. Before anyone could say anything, the passenger side door of the first truck opened. Hermione stared at the youth that jumped out of the open door and was instantly struck by his green eyes, despite the fact that the thick rimless eyeglasses that he was obstructed her view.

Absently, the young muggle-born witch noted that the young man – and he is very young, quite possible the same age as her – was wearing a camouflage uniform like the ones that she had expected, but unlike the driver of the truck – who had also jumped down from the truck – the uniform was bereft of any rank insignia. Neither did the young man carry a weapon, either in his hands or in his hip holster, unlike the driver who had retrieved a gun from his seat.

For his part, Harry was thoroughly unimpressed by what he had seen. The robes that the witches and wizards in front of him wore was probably the clincher, however, as the young cadet could not imagine wearing something like that. He was reasonably informed that that was the accepted clothes for both witches and wizards in magical Britain, unlike back in the mainland where magicals dress just like non-magicals.

He did briefly wonder about the students who stood behind the line of professors – '_How accommodating of them, they formed their own line, now I wonder if I could find a firing squad for them?'_ Harry thought to himself – but decided that he would worry about them later. Right now, he has a job to do, and with that in mind, he turned his attention toward the oldest – at least, he appeared the oldest to Harry – and asked, "Professor Dumbledore?"

The Headmaster of Hogwarts got over his surprise and gave a nod. He knew that the young man who had asked his name was the son of James and Lily. There was too much in him of his parents – especially James, the young man looked like James – for the lad to be able to deny it.

"Yes, I am Headmaster Dumbledore," Albus replied, he smiled kindly toward Harry, though he was not the slightest bit rebuffed by the fact that Harry maintained a cool expression toward him. The Headmaster did take the silent warning though and decided not to say anything else, especially not about the Potters. He decided to wait until Harry would introduce himself.

For his part, Harry did his best to appear neutral to the Headmaster, but his family history precluded from truly achieving that. In the end, he had to forcibly remind himself that his commanding officer had given him his instructions and that he should follow them. With a barely discernible sigh, Harry returned his attention toward the Headmaster and said, "I am Cadet Fourth Class Harry James Potter, sir," and did his best to ignore the pointed gasps as he continued, "I had been appointed as liaison for the time that 'C' Brigade, 22 Infantry Division would be bivouacked at your grounds.:

The smile on the face of Albus Dumbledore was genuine, but it was not there because he was happy to be hosting three thousand men from the Imperial Army, it was there because he was happy that Harry had finally come to Hogwarts. Now he could begin planning, but first, he has to earn the trust of the boy.

"I am Albus Dumbledore," the Headmaster said, he extended his hand toward Harry and was surprised by the strength of the grip of the younger man. Normally, people would be too grateful for them to even shake his hand even if the Headmaster were to offer, and the few who did had never gripped his hand as tight as this, "Headmaster of Hogwarts School."

Harry nodded, but did not say anything, prompting the Headmaster to continued, "Let me introduce you to my staff," he said, and before Harry could inform the Headmaster that that is best left for the commanding officer of 'C' Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division, the old man had began to list the names of his professors.

A good five minutes later, the Headmaster said, "Allow me then to introduce the students that would be most closely involved to help you during your stay," instead of what Harry had been expecting.

The first student that the Headmaster introduced to Harry was a bushy-haired young woman whose deep chocolate brown eyes betrayed her intelligence. Harry found himself staring at those eyes and he quickly realized that she was staring back at him. The words of the Headmaster, when it was finally said, was barely understood, but Harry hard them nonetheless, "This is Hermione Granger of Gryffindor, she has been appointed as Head Liaison for the duration of your stay," the Headmaster said.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

* * *

**THREE**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

Harry neatly folded the piece of paper that he had received from his father into four before he fed it into a shredder that proceeded to turn it into strips. He did not even bother to look at the questioning look that his partner and friend – Cadet Brooke – gave him as he led the other eight cadets who were inside their tent into staring at Harry with a questioning and incredulous expression.

The leader of the ten cadets that were sent to Hogwarts closed his eyes for a few moments as he tried to come up with a mission plan, but Harry quickly realized that he would not be able to accomplish this mission with only the nine cadets that were assigned under him. He knew that he would require the assistance of Brigadier General Arnott, and there is a chance that he might even require the assistance of the staff of Hogwarts, and that gave him scant comfort given how the staff had welcomed the brigade last night.

Harry shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. He supposed that he should have seen how the teachers would welcome the brigade. After all, as was so aptly pointed out by the Deputy Headmistress during the meet-and-greet that they went through last night, this is a school, not a military camp.

There was, however, a mission to be fulfilled, and Harry had been given the mission by his father, which meant that the operation had come from the Prince of Scotland. His father might have signed the letter, but Harry knew well enough of Imperial politics and the relationship of his parents to the eldest grandson of the Empress to know that the order was endorsed by Lord Alexander.

A sigh escaped from the lips of Harry as he forced himself to return to the present. He turned his gaze toward his classmates, and as he had expected, they are all looking at him with confused expressions on their face that still somehow managed to convey their willingness to accomplish the mission that they had been given. That they had been given a mission was a conclusion that they had come to when they saw Harry shred the paper that he had received.

For a few moments, Harry wondered about the wisdom of informing the cadets of the real purpose of the mission as was advised by his father. Although these nine are classmates from the Academy – and therefore, had survived giving an Oath of Loyalty to the Golden Throne – Harry was still unsure if they should be informed that they are going to search for an object that – at last research – was capable of possessing the body of anyone who would touch it.

Harry knew, however, that his father would not have given that advice if the Potter elders thought that Harry should not take it. Faced with that, Harry knew that he should trust his father and do as he says.

"We have been given direct orders from the Prince of Scotland," Harry began, and as he had expected, ears perked up at the mention of the latest title of Lord Alexander, though Harry did not pause to allow his classmates time to speculate on what was being asked of them, instead, he continued, "We had been asked to search for an object inside the school."

"What kind of object?" Edward asked. He spoke for everyone when he asked that question, Harry knew, because the moment that he closed his mouth, the eight other cadets nodded their agreement with the question.

Unfortunately, that was a question that Harry knew he could not answer with absolute certainty. Not because he was forbidden from doing so, but rather, because he does not know how he should answer that question in the first place. The letter that his father had given him was devoid of any description of the object that they are being asked to look for.

The descriptions as to the capabilities of the object in question was detailed within the letter, as was the name of the object and the suspected history behind it, but his father had admitted that they have no idea exactly what the object that they are looking for is, instead, Lord James had advised that they use their dark magic detectors to find the missing object.

"We do not know," Harry admitted a few moments later. The looks on the faces of his fellow cadets told Harry that they are unimpressed, but before they could say anything, Harry continued, "I suspect that not even those who had given us this mission is aware of the object in question," he said, he fixed his classmates a glare and said, "It is, however, a dark object, and from the information that I had been given, it seem clear to me that it is capable of passive and active possession."

A shrill whistle came from the direction of Edward, forcing Harry and the others to turn their attention toward him. The second highest-ranking cadet amongst the group noticed that everyone was looking at him, so he proceeded to give an explanation for his rather unbecoming conduct, "We do not know what the object that we are being ordered to search for is, yet, we know that it is capable of possession," he said, "We may as well have been ordered to run over the barbed wire while the gunners are firing their machineguns at us."

Harry might not have phased it that way, but his partner was essentially correct. Back at Basic Training, cadets are asked to crawl under barbed wire while soldiers fire machineguns with live bullets over their heads. Ostensibly, it was to familiarize the cadets – and the soldiers because they also go through that in their basic training – to the sound of live bullets whizzing over their heads. Harry suspected that the only reason that it was being done was because the drill instructors love to see the cadets squirm.

"Admittedly, that is rather apt," Harry said a few moments later, and once more, attention was turned toward him. he fixed his classmates a glare before he added, "We, however, had been given these instructions, and they came straight from Lord Alexander, so if any of you have any objections, I suggest you take them up with the Prince."

Harry had not expected any takers, and, indeed, there were no takers. Not everyone inside the tent have parents who have taken fealty oaths with the Prince of Scotland like Harry, but the senior cadet also knew that everyone in the room would dare not countermand instructions from someone as well respected and high ranked as Lord Alexander.

For a few moments, there was silence inside the tent as everyone inside sought to make peace with the instructions that they had been given. Harry was amongst those who are trying to make peace with the order, because while he may have agreed with it in principle and while he may have presented it to his classmates, the truth was, he was not happy with it. As Edward had pointed out – though not directly – this had the markings of a suicide mission if one does not prepare properly for the operation.

"Alright," Edward said, breaking the increasing uncomfortable silence that had started to descend across the tent, he turned toward Harry and asked, "How do you want to do this?"

"We've been trained to spot dark magic using our wands," Harry said, and at the same time that he said that, he wished that he and his classmates could actually detect dark magic without using their focus. It would be easier because Harry did not think that they would not be accosted by professors – or even by Hogwarts students – as they walk along the halls of the castle with their wands out.

For that matter, they actually need to find a way to get _into_ the castle. Harry had seen the orders of 'C' Brigade and Lord Alexander had specifically crafted the order to deny Brigadier General Arnott and his people permission to enter the castle unless in dire emergency – and dire emergency includes the castle being attacked or there is some sort of riot inside.

"The general needs to be informed about this," Nicholas Middleton – one of the younger cadets – said. He turned to look at Harry and said, "I am not sure what the clearance for the mission order is, Harry, but the general has to be informed that we have been given a mission at the least."

Fortunately, Harry had also been given instructions to inform their immediate commanding officer of their mission, "I have been given instructions to inform the general," Harry replied, and from the collective sighs of relief that came from the other cadets, Harry could tell that it was important for them that the brigadier be informed. Harry, however, could not figure out why the cadets are adamant on that.

He was about to ask them when the flap to their tent opened and an officer – several years older than Harry and his cadets – entered the tent. Almost instantly, Harry and his classmates snapped to attention as they faced the newly arrived officer.

"Cadet Fourth Class Potter," the unnamed lieutenant said, "You are being summoned to the headquarters of Brigadier General Arnott,"

Harry nodded, and with a shrug, the lieutenant left the tent. It was clear that he had been given instructions not to escort Harry to the command headquarters, but whether or not it was another test on the part of the brigadier, Harry does not know.

"It would appear that our commander had received his own set of instructions," Edward commented under his breath a few moments after the lieutenant had left the tent. He turned his attention toward Harry and asked, "Are you willing to take a bet?"

Harry smiled before he shook his head, "No bet," he replied, before a frown came across his face and his voice took a scolding tone, "And you should stop being a betting man, Edward, they frown at that in active service, at least, amongst the officers."

Edward merely shook his head. He refused to say anything as he joined his other classmates in watching Harry as he fixed his cover, but when Harry was about to leave the tent, Edward quickly added, "Ask the general about the duty roster when you're with him, Harry, I would hate to have come up with that when we really would not be using it,"

Harry smiled but did not deign to reply to the words of his partner. Harry had assigned Edward to come up with the duty roster that Brigadier General Arnott had demanded of him when he first met the man. Harry knew that Edward had come up with a genius division of responsibilities, but with the mission that they had been assigned, there is a chance that that task would prove to be an exercise in futility. If the cadets are going to be asked to search for something inside the castle, then there is a chance that the brigadier general would not even second the cadets to his staff as he had told Harry.

The glare of the sun surprised Harry the moment that he stepped out of the tent, but it was no worse than the glare back at Annapolis so after a few moments – moments that his eyes took to acclimate himself – he could ignore the glare and focus his attention on the rest of the camp.

Soldiers are milling in almost every direction that Harry could see. Most appear to be off-duty, the way that they are standing, but there are a few who appear to be on-duty, keeping their eyes straight toward the forest that surrounded the castle. A few were even looking _at _the castle.

Almost overnight, a tent city had sprung up on the grounds of Hogwarts as the soldiers of 'C' Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division settled in for what could be their home for the next few days up to the next few months. Ordered row upon row of ten man tents were arranged in a chess-board fashion with common areas in between where rifles and other stuff that could not be brought into the tent would be stored.

Soldiers busily set up interdiction zones along the perimeter of the camp – machinegun posts every ten meters and a firing trench inside the perimeter marked by barbed wire – while others mingle at the motor pool, lending a hand to the mechanics who apparently had stayed up overnight in order to fix the trucks and armored personnel carriers of the brigade.

'C' Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division is a motorized infantry brigade rather than a mechanized infantry brigade, so the brigade do not carry infantry fighting vehicles in any of its three infantry battalions. Most of the soldiers assigned to the brigade travel using open air six-by-six heavy trucks, and a few lucky others get armored personnel carriers.

The brigade headquarters of Brigadier General Arnott was set up behind the motor pool area, equally distant from the battalion headquarters of the three battalions under his command. As Harry had expected, the brigadier general has set up his own tent, but it would appear that the command vehicle of the general still serves as the headquarters of the brigade.

"Sir, Cadet Fourth Class Potter, reporting as ordered, sir," Harry said, saluting as he entered the rear cab of the command vehicle of the general where the sentry on duty assured him the general would be.

Brigadier General Arnott was in the middle of shaving his facial hair when Harry entered the cab. The general still has shaving cream over half of his face and had a razor on his right hand when he turned toward Harry, but he acknowledged the young cadet with a nod that made Harry lower his hand before the general returned to finish shaving.

Brigadier General Arnott, however, was not one to waste time, and though he returned his attention to the mirror to deal with his beard, he asked, "I take it that you had received new instructions from Lord Alexander, cadet?"

"Yes sir," Harry replied, not even bothering to nod. The general was not looking at him so there was no point in doing that, and besides, nodding is not the generally acceptable response when asked a direct question by a superior officer. Harry had to admit that he wanted to ask the general if he had also received instructions regarding the mission that Harry had received but thought better of it.

For a few moments, the general did not say anything as he was focused on his shaving. Once he was done with that ritual, however, he washed off the cream from his face and turned his attention toward Harry.

"I've also received new instructions from Lord Alexander," the general said, he motioned toward a make-shift stove where a fire was burning, so Harry assumed that the general had gotten rid of the paper with the orders through that method. "I am unhappy with the prospect of being bait, but I understand the reasoning behind the logic of my liege lord," he shook his head before he added, "In any case, it has not yet been proven without doubt that we would just be decoys in this exercise."

A sigh escaped from the lips of the general before he asked, "Have you come up with any working method that would allow you to search for this item?"

"We had been trained to look for dark items in Olympia, sir," Harry replied, "all ten of us came from Olympia Academy sir, so we could search for the item using our focus, but at the moment, our problem is how to gain access to the castle."

Brigadier General Arnott nodded. He accepted a cup of coffee from his aide – giving the man a nod of thanks – before he returned his attention toward Harry, "You and your cadets are our liaisons to the school, that should give you enough reason to be inside the castle," he paused once more before he asked, "I take it that your search method could arouse suspicion on the part of the locals?"

"Yes, sir," Harry replied, he removed his wand from his side holster and presented it to the commander of 'C' Brigade, "This is a typical focus, general, and when we are searching for this item, the tip of it," – and here, Harry touched the tip of the wand – "would be glowing, I do not imagine that the natives would not accost us when they see this."

Brigadier General Arnott looked thoughtful for a few moments, and Harry could not do anything but stare at his superior officer. Finally, after a few moments, the general said, "My briefings regarding the Headmaster pegged him as an unknown," he said, he stared at Harry and said, "Your own parents, Cadet, are unsure of where to place the Headmaster in our Battle Order, so I ask, do you think it is possible that the Headmaster could be trusted to assist in this matter?"

Harry thought for an answer to that question for a long time. The general seemed content to wait for the assessment of Harry and did not interrupt the train of thought of the younger man. After a few minutes, Harry finally said, "My parents are of the opinion that the Headmaster is a good man willing to do anything to defeat Voldemort," and at the blank look on the face of the general, Harry elaborated, "He was the last dark lord to scourge the magical world, sir, and he was the reason why my parents fled to the mainland, he tried to kill us all when I was one."

Brigadier General Arnott did not look distraught at the mention of the assassination attempt, unlike most of the people who had been informed. Those people are often shocked that a man would try to kill a baby, but then again, Brigadier General Arnott is an experienced soldier, and Harry was happy that the commander chose not to make a big deal of the assassination attempt.

"As I was saying, sir, the Headmaster is willing to do anything to defeat Voldemort, and whatever this thing that we had been asked to look for, my parents are sure that it has something to do with this dark lord," Harry said. He thought about informing the commander of 'C' Brigade about the fact that his parents had actually killed the physical body of the Dark Lord during the assassination attempt, but realized that that would lead to more questions that Harry is unsure if he could answer, so he decided against informing the general.

Brigadier General Arnott does not need to know about those facts, anyway, because Harry knew that if Lord Alexander had thought that the commander of 'C' Brigade needs to know, the Prince would have informed the man himself.

"That being the case, Cadet, you are telling me that the Headmaster is going to assist you in this mission?" Brigadier General Arnott asked a few moments later. He looked thoughtful for a few moments before he added, "I would imagine that the operation would be easier if the Headmaster would be willing to assist."

Harry shook his head, "No doubt it would be easier, sir," Harry replied, "but I do not think that the Headmaster would see the same thing as we would in regard to this operation," he paused for a few moments before he explained, "Sir, the Headmaster is utterly convinced that he is the only one who is competent enough and intelligent enough to possess certain bits of knowledge, and we know that this item, or rather, the knowledge of how to create this item, are amongst those that the Headmaster had purposefully kept hidden from the rest of the magical world."

"You are saying that he would impede your operation because he does not think that you should know that this item exists, is that it?" Brigadier Arnott asked, and in response to the nod of Harry, he continued, "Is this item a matter of national security?"

The seemingly innocent question of the Brigadier had strings attached, Harry knew, but he could not blame the general. Harry knew that if the item in question is a matter of national security for the Holy Empire, the general would take that as a green light for his men to storm the castle and do the searching themselves, but that was precisely what Lord Alexander had wanted to avoid when he had Lord James sent Harry the letter. Although it was unstated in the instructions itself, Harry can read through the lines.

The young cadet could also tell the reason why the Prince was careful in revealing the search. If the Dark Lord were to become aware that there are those who are actively searching for his anchors, then the man – if he were still one – would be placed on alert. It does not take a genius to see that the first thing that the Dark Lord would do would be to safeguard his anchors, and despite the fact that Imperial Intelligence is the best in the world, not even they could come up with the locations of these anchors, they could not even come up with a solid number.

"His Highness does not seem to think so, Sir," Harry replied, and seeing the disappointed look on the face of his commanding officer, Harry quickly added, "If it was, sir, then there would be more of us here."

Brigadier General Arnott conceded that point by politely inclining his head toward the direction of Harry. "There is that," he conceded. He seemed to think about something before a sigh escaped from his lips, "I guess that there is nothing that could be done for our part, Cadet," he shook his head and added, "My instructions are from the prince, we are not to move into the school at a whim and could only do so if there is a clear danger."

Harry nodded, "It would take some time sir, but I believe we could find this item in question," he replied.

"Good," Brigadier General Arnott said. He paused for a few moments before he pulled a chair and he sat down. He was already seated before he fixed Harry a look and asked, "And where is that duty roster that I asked you to come up with, Cadet? Just because you have an operation does not excuse you from the fact that you are cadets in your summer tour."

Harry fought the urge to sigh at that. It would appear that the commander of 'C' Brigade was not going to cut them some slack because of the mission, but though unexpected, Harry is sure that he and his classmates would have no problem with it.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

Hermione fought the urge to grimace at the noise waves that reached his ear. She also fought the urge to stand up and pummel the young red-haired girl that was currently disparaging an unnamed 'bushy-haired, beaver, older student' into the nearest wall.

A sigh escaped from her lips as she forced herself to calm down and turn all of her attention toward her half-eaten breakfast, but she only needed to look at it once to decide that she was done, she might as well get ready for classes, especially considering that her first class for today was potions, and there was no way that Severus Snape was going to cut her some slack.

Hermione pushed herself away from the table and took to her feet, ignoring the looks that came from her two other roommates who noted that the young woman had barely touched her breakfast. The young brown-haired witch then proceeded to close her ears as she walked toward the exit to the Great Hall, an action that was required because she was not in the mood to listen to gossip, especially considering that she knew that the gossip would be about her again.

Last night's meeting with the muggle military had thrown Hermione into the center stage of gossip once more, especially when it became clear to the pureblood students who were not invited that Hermione had met with Harry James Potter. Personally, Hermione does not see any reason for the hype that surrounded the boy. Sure, the Potter heir was handsome in a childish and roguish kind of way, and he seem intelligent as well, if his position was to be of any indication, but she personally does not see any reason for the young girls of Hogwarts to practically throw their knickers at him, even if they are yet to see the young man because instead of entering the school, he went and joined his fellow soldiers at the grounds.

That evening, right after the meet-and-greet, Hermione returned to her dorm and was informed by her roommates that some of their fellow Gryffindor girls are actually angry at Hermione right now because of Harry Potter. She did not think it unfair that the girls are angry at him because she met their crush when they did not, quite simply, Hermione had stopped thinking on those terms since she was nearly killed by a troll her first year.

Since that Halloween evening when she the only thing that saved her was an accidental burst of magic that made a hole the size of a muggle soccer ball on the body of the troll, Hermione had played her cards close to her chest. She never stood out – at least, not as much as she could help, because being muggle-born and being the top student was a sure way to make herself stand out – and had very few friends, none of whom could expect an invite to her home in Crawley.

Her circle of friends also lacks any male students, despite the fact that it was unique in Hogwarts because it included members of other houses. It was quite understandable given how it is this same circle that Hermione study with and because no male student wants to study with them – or study at all, come to think about it – no boy had ever ingrained himself in the social circle of Hermione, a fact that everyone became aware of last year when Hermione attended the ball – rather than go home – without a partner.

'_It just seem inconceivable to me that I am expected to find a future partner amongst the male population of Hogwarts,'_ Hermione thought to herself as she walked past the point counter – as usual, Slytherin was leading, while Gryffindor was behind – that is used to mark the number of house points, '_If the students here are the cream of the crop, I shudder to think of the students at the other schools,'_ and with that, she shook her head as she tried to think of any logic behind the outdated notion of some of the pureblood girls that they could get Harry Potter a marriage contract.

'_Not even a day here, and he is already getting this much attention,'_ Hermione thought to herself as she stepped onto the first step in the grand staircase of Hogwarts, only to pass by a group of four sixth year Ravenclaw girls who appear to be comparing notes. Hermione would have dismissed it as comparing homework had she not espied a red title on one of the papers that the girls was holding, '_Marriage Contract,'_ Hermione thought to herself, '_I suppose that even the so-called smart people are jumping the bandwagon, they do seem to be more excited than usual, though.'_

Deciding that she needed to know more about Harry Potter – and realizing that there really was no need for her to prepare for potions class since she is as prepared as she could be, anyway – Hermione decided to make a beeline for the library. If there was anything new that she could find, she was prepared to bet that she would find it in the library rather than from the mouths of her obviously besotted classmates.

Further thoughts on her mind, however, were interrupted when Hermione finally stepped onto the second floor, and nearly fell down because she hit a wall of flesh that, while not as hard as iron, was still harder than usual.

An arm quickly shot out and grabbed hers, preventing her from taking a spill and hurting herself. Hermione could feel the warmth of that hand as it touched her naked hand, and for a few moments, that was all that she could think about that she actually failed to even raise her head and confirm who it was that held her hand and had prevented her from taking a spill.

'_It's his fault anyway,'_ the subconscious of Hermione thought to herself, '_If he had not blocked me, I would not be in this situation,'_ though at the same time that she said that to herself, another part of her chided her for not paying attention to her surroundings, a lesson that she had learned just last year when she was hit by a curse fired by a still-unknown party that caused her front teeth to grow larger and larger until she sought assistance at the Hospital Wing.

"Are you alright?" a voice that Hermione had never heard before asked as the hand that held her pulled her – gently and strongly at the same time – back into safe ground. The fact that Hermione had not heard the voice before had her curious as to who this person is even if she already knew that it was one of the newcomers. She turned her gaze up – she was taller than him by a good four or five inch – and she blinked as she found herself staring at the pair of greenest eyes that she had ever seen.

'_Harry James Potter,'_ Hermione thought to herself, '_The very man that I am heading to the library to study, somehow magically appears in front of me.'_

"I…I'm fine," Hermione said as she gently removed her hand from his. He looked amused as she did so, but whether or not the amusement written on his face had something to do with the actions of Hermione or the fact that the Ravencalaw students that Hermione had passed had suddenly turned toward them with envious and angry look on their eyes, Hermione would not know, because she was not even aware that the upper year students that she had passed had taken to staring at her back with angry eyes.

"That's good," Harry replied as she subtly moved to the side. Although it was a subtle move, the subconscious of Hermione recognized the fact that he had given her a chance to bolt for it, and her subconscious – the one that implored her not to get involved with this man – urged her strongly to run. His next words, however, tore Hermione out of his indecision and forced her to stay, "You look as if you're in a hurry," Harry commented.

Hermione snapped her head toward the direction of Harry – her eyes had somehow found the floor the moment that she had replied to his first question – and an intense color flashed behind them. Harry merely stared at her, un-intimidated by the flash of her eyes, and she realized this. With a stutter, she apologized, "I…I'm sorry," Hermione began.

Harry smiled as he waved away the apology, "Don't," he replied, "It was my fault anyway, I was in your way and you nearly fell down the stairs, and as if that was not enough I had the gall to ask you what you are thinking about," the smile on his face broadened before he added, "My teachers would be sorely disappointed that I had forgotten my manners," he sighed theatrically.

Despite herself, Hermione smiled in amusement. She realized that she was not getting any of the hostile auras that is used to receiving from majority of the Hogwarts population, and from someone like Harry Potter too. Somehow, this made her happy, despite the fact that she does not know why.

"You were there last night, weren't you?" Harry asked, and even though he phased it as a question, it was obvious that he was already aware what the answer would be.

"Hermione Jean Granger," Hermione replied as she unconsciously extended her right hand toward Harry, completely forgetting the fact that after the so-called pure of blood students had refused to shake her hand whenever he would extend it toward them, she had promised herself that she would never extend her hand toward another magical again.

The only reaction that Harry had, however, when Hermione extended her hand toward him, was to smile at her before he accepted the offered hand, "Harry James Potter, Cadet Fourth Class, Imperial Naval Academy," he replied, feeling extremely sure that there would have been no need for him to reintroduce himself given that it was obvious that Hermione was aware of his identity. Still, she had introduced herself, so it was only proper for Harry to follow suit.

The handshake that was exchanged between Harry and Hermione was firm, but friendly. There was none of the implied threats that Hermione was used to getting from her classmates or the hopes of patronage from those that shake the hands of Harry whenever he is forced to attend a formal party back at home. It was a refreshing handshake for the two of them, despite the fact that subconsciously, both knew that this handshake could – and would – spell trouble for both of them.

As if to remind the two of them of this fact, at almost the exact moment that their hands touched, there was the sound of a notebook hitting the floor. Both Harry and Hermione turned their attention toward the source of the sound and saw the elder Ravenclaw students that Hermione had passed on her way up. The look of shock on their faces was obvious, but neither Harry nor Hermione was in any mood to inquire as to the reason behind their socked looks, not when both of them already suspect the reason.

"I was on my way to the Headmaster's Office to discuss a matter of some importance with him," Harry said as he turned his attention away from the shocked Ravenclaw students and back toward Hermione. There was a smile on his face as he asked, "Perhaps you would care to accompany me? After all, I have no idea where the office is."

Hermione also had no idea where the office is, seeing that she had never had a reason to look for that particular office before. This was reflected in the look that she gave Harry in response to his suggestion, but before she was able to reply to his suggestion verbally, she saw the look that he was giving her, and she realized that the invitation was for more than the Headmaster's Office.

Hermione made a split second decision then and there and with a smile, she nodded, "I would be more than welcome to accompany you, Mr. Potter," she said. Harry looked ready to protest with her use of his name, but before he could say anything, she cut him off, "After all, it is my job to make sure that you and your stay here be as comfortable as possible."

"Thank you, Ms. Granger," Harry replied at the same time that his peripheral vision took one last note at the stunned elder students. The naval cadet actually found himself wondering if his hostess for the day was capable of firing wand-less hexes, because the elder Ravens appear as if they had been hit with stunners.

With a mental shrug to himself, Harry decided that he does not care. He had watched the interaction of Hermione with her upperclassmen – or rather, he had watched the lack of interaction between Hermione and her upperclassmen – as she climbed the stairs to the second floor where he had been waiting. If pushed, Harry would be forced to admit that he did block the path of Hermione, not because he was being intentional cruel, but because there was something about the young witch that made Harry do it.

Trained in subtle magic arts, Harry was still unable to realize that the reason that he found the young Hermione Granger interesting was because his magic was singing to hers, and her magic was replying in kind.

Hermione stood away from Harry, her face turned toward him, and despite the fact that she looked irritated, a small amused smile was playing at her face. Harry supposed that the young witch had found the reaction of her upperclassmen amusing, but from the irritated look at her face – a look that Harry was sure was not intended for him, for if it was intended for him, he was sure that the young lady would have started complaining already, she looked the kind, just like his younger sister – Harry was able to conclude that the feelings on the face of Hermione that appeared there in response to the actions of her upperclassmen was more contempt than amused.

That placed Harry on the spot and he briefly wondered exactly what it was that the older students had done to Hermione to earn them the ire of the young woman – '_Obviously, it was something major, I do not think Hermione is the kind to hold grudges despite the fact that I've only met her,'_ Harry thought – but decided that while he really wants to know, the only way that he could know is if he would ask Hermione, and right now, he knew that even if he asked directly, the young witch would not say anything, and that is her prerogative.

"You know," Hermione said a few moments later, forcing Harry away from his reverie and back into the present. He turned his attention – his full attention – toward Hermione and watched her beautiful face as she smiled apologetically and said, "I really do not know where the office of the Headmaster is,"

"I got that impression a while ago, Miss Granger," Harry replied, "but…"

Hermione cut him off once more, "Please call me Hermione," she requested, "We're the same age and it doesn't feel right," she paused and looked at Harry with a serious expression that quickly melted into a questioning expression before she asked, "We are the same age, right?"

"As far as I know, yes," Harry replied with a smile, "I just turned fifteen this past July."

"Oh," Hermione said, she sounded disappointed so Harry took that to mean that she is either younger or older. Given that she is a woman, however, Harry suspected that it was the latter, but before Harry could further speculate, Hermione answered his unasked question, "I'm older than you," she said.

"But not by much, I am guessing," Harry replied, incorrectly assuming that Hermione was going to take offense of that fact, "Hogwarts accept students that turn eleven on the first of September right, and I know that you're on your fifth year."

"I'm sixteen," Hermione replied, before she paused – in everything including her walking, forcing Harry to halt beside her – and looked deep in thought before she turned her full attention toward Harry and asked, "If you're fifteen, how come you're already in the Naval Academy? How about your magical education?"

Harry smiled, "In the mainland, formal magical education begins at seven, informal starts earlier," he shook his head before he added, "I was three when I first started pre-school magical, though that was more playtime and naptime than real studying, the basics that I had learned there – as did most others – form the basis of my further magical education," he paused once more before he added, "I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but I studied at Olympia Academy, Magical Division for both my primary and secondary education."

The eyes of Hermione widened at the mention of the school. Granted, she was unaware that Olympia Academy had a magical division. Despite the fact that she was born and still resides in the British Isles, Hermione was aware of the fame of Olympia Academy. It is the most prestigious school in the whole of the Holy Empire, if not the world. It was also the only school whose graduates are assured of a position no matter where they go, and as if to advertise that fact, twenty six of the last thirty Imperial Prime Ministers are graduates of Olympia.

"You could have joined the government…," Hermione began.

Harry smiled as he motioned for them to resume walking. Stunned by the revelation, Hermione did not move right away, prompting Harry to gently grab her hand and gently assist her in resuming their walk. The stunned Hermione allowed Harry to lead her without any protest, whereas anyone else who had dared would probably had been lying at the floor by now because of any hex that Hermione could send toward them.

"I could have," Harry admitted a few moments later, politely inclining her head toward Hermione as he did so. He smiled as he saw Hermione focus her attention toward him, "but the Academy is almost a matter of course for me."

That statement caused a confused look to appear on the face of Hermione, but before she could ask her question, Harry continued, "I was born in the British Isles, Miss Granger, but I grew up in the mainland because…," he paused for a few moments, before he added with a pained smile, "I am sure you know the reason why my family left this fair isles."

Hermione nodded, "not by much, but I know the basics," she replied. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments as Hermione found herself analyzing her next words.

The uncomfortable silence, however, did not last long because Harry broke it, "My father gave oath to the then Duke of New York," Harry continued, "The Potter's became vassals to the York Family, the side of the Archduke of Belleview."

'_A powerful patron,'_ Hermione thought to herself. The young witch was aware that the family line that Harry was referring to was that of Archduke Stephen Richard of Bellleview, younger son of the current Empress of Britannia.

"Being vassals to a martial family, it was almost a matter of course for me to join the military," Harry continued, forcing Hermione out of her reverie as she was forced to return her attention toward him, "It was either West Point or Annapolis, though if I had wanted to, I could have just gone through reserve officer training course," Harry shook his head and a rueful smile came across his face as he continued, "My Lord Alexander, however, had allies in the Imperial Congress and he used those allies to secure an appointment for me to Annapolis, so, here I am."

Hermione nodded. Imperial politicking was not her area of expertise, but she is at least aware enough of the non-magical world that she was not completely lost with what Harry had said. She returned her attention toward Harry as they entered a covered walkway that she knew would lead them to the lake, "Why Annapolis?" she asked.

Harry smiled, "My Lord was a product of Annapolis," he replied, and seeing the confused expression on the face of his companion, Harry continued, "Lord Alexander is not really my lord, you understand, I am only fifteen and I have to be at least twenty one before I could give an Oath of Affiliation, but I am the son and the heir of my parents, and Lord Alexander is their liege."

Both Harry and Hermione had to squint their eyes for a few moments as the rays of the sun shining at full blast caught them unprepared. It only took them a few moments to adjust to the glare, however, and when they came to, Harry found himself staring at the lake of Hogwarts. A smile – one not unnoticed by Hermione – came across the face of Harry and he said, "It's beautiful."

Hermione found herself nodding in agreement, "I never really noticed," she admitted in disappointment, "but you're right, it is beautiful."

"I imagine that you and your friends have many picnics here," Harry commented off-handedly, "Back in Olympia, me and my friends used to camp around the lake, its an artificial lake, mind you, so it can't be as beautiful as this, but if we wanted a real lake, there are plenty outside school grounds," the smile on his face broadened before he said, "And the Sound, how could I forget the Sound? It is easily the most beautiful body of water that I had ever seen."

'_Puget Sound,'_ Hermione thought to herself as she realized that that must be what Harry was talking about, but the words that came out of her mouth next had nothing to do with that body of water, "I have no close friends here, Mr. Potter," she replied in an almost formal manner that alerted Harry that the girl was about to close her door on the inroads that he had been doing to earn her friendship.

"Call me Harry," Harry replied almost immediately, aware that that was a tactic to stop Hermione from closing herself from him. It helped that Harry wanted Hermione to call him by his first name.

"Harry," Hermione replied, as if she was testing the name.

Harry smiled and nodded at the sound that came from the mouth of Hermione, but the last words that had came out of her mouth before she decided to call him by his first name demanded some clarification, and Harry ploughed on, "What do you mean you do not have any close friends, Hermione?" she asked, consciously adopting to using her first name.

"Just that," Hermione replied. The neutral look on her face alerted Harry that something was very wrong, but he decided against asking as she continued, "I have always have had a hard time making friends."

Harry nodded. He could certainly understand what she is going through, though not for a second did he imagine that he knows what she is going through, "I can understand that," he finally said a few moments later, and before Hermione could say anything, Harry added, "But you have one friend in me, Hermione, I do hope that we could be friends."

Hermione paused for a few moments, caught by surprise by what Harry had said, "Are you sure you want me to be your friend?" she asked curiously, "There are a lot of others out there who want to be your friends, Harry,"

"They are only interested in making friends with me because of my name, Hermione, not because of who I am," he replied with an easy smile. He turned his full attention toward Hermione and said, "I do not think you are like that Hermione, but then again, I have to confess, I think I know your uncle."

"Uncle Richard?" Hermione asked, and when Harry nodded, Hermione realized that she should have known, "Last time we heard from him, he is in New Zealand." That fact brought a sad smile to the face of Hermione. Her Uncle Richard was her favorite uncle, a favoritism brought about by the fact that while other aunts and uncles would give her toys for her birthdays and for Christmas, Uncle Richard would bring her books that she could read and actually enjoy.

Harry smiled, "Would you like to see him, Hermione? This weekend?" Harry asked, and at the confused look on the face of Hermione, Harry said, "We're not going to New Zealand, mind," he chuckled, "He's coming here."

Hermione blinked, but before she could say anything, Harry clarified, "Its supposed to be a surprise inspection, but its probably going to be more of a surprise for the Hogwarts staff," he smiled and implored her, "Please don't tell them."

Hermione's tone was bitter and told Harry that he needed to investigate the past experiences of Hermione Granger in this school more, "They won't listen to me anyway," she replied off-handedly, before a smile came across her face, "It would be lovely to see Uncle Richard again."

"Good," Harry replied, "It's a date then."

Hermione blinked, unsure if she had heard Harry correctly. She could have sworn that he said 'date', but there was no way that that would be how this excursion should be classified right? In any case, there are a lot of other girls – prettier and with more worthy bloodlines – that Harry could take with him, but it took her only one look at Harry to know that she got it right.

The smile on the face of Harry was contagious and she found herself smiling, "It's a date," she finally agreed, unaware that by saying that, she had made the day of the young man who stood in front of her.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

* * *

**FOUR**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

The surface of the lake was calm as Harry stared at it, Hermione by his side. There was something about this calmness that was seem to speak to the very core of Harry, but even the young naval cadet was unsure, if pressed, if what was speaking to his magical core was the beauty presented by the combination of the still surface waters of the lake surrounded by lush green mountains on three sides, or if it was the girl who stood in silence beside him, seemingly enraptured by the same stillness as Harry.

The two teenagers stood about ten feet away from where the dry soil of the grounds of Hogwarts meet with the waters of the lake, and though the two of them stared into the far shore of the famous lake – '_at least, famous in the magical world,'_ Harry thought to himself – and toward the mountains that rise at the other side, both of them were keenly aware of not only the presence of the other and their side, but also of their magic. Both Harry and Hermione would admit that they had never felt magic from another that seem to be so compatible with their own, their cores practically singing in duet with the other.

A sudden flash of light at the surface of the water broke the silence that had descended between the two youngsters – a silence that neither Harry nor Hermione found uncomfortable as they realized that they are actually basking in the presence of the other – and they turned toward each other, somehow, both realizing that one of them was about to speak.

It was Harry who broke the silence, "What was that?" he asked, and even as he asked the question, the young naval cadet realized that he does not really care what the answer would be, he just wanted to hear her voice.

Hermione was more than willing to oblige, "It's probably the giant squid…" she said, unsure of her own answer. It surprised the young witch, for she was not the type of person to answer a question unless she is sure of her answer. A smile came across her face – one that Harry returned without even meaning to – as she realized that at that point in time, she truly does not care if she was wrong.

It was a welcome change for Hermione, for her past situation at this very school had forced her to always be sure of her answer before she would speak to answer a question because she knew that her so-called peers would make fun of her should she ever be proven wrong. Somehow, however, she knew that this young man in uniform beside her would not care if she was right or wrong.

"A giant squid?" Harry asked. He wanted to return his attention toward the water, if Hermione was right – and there was no doubt in the mind of Harry that she was – he wanted to see the creature, but even as he consciously tried to tell his neck to turn back to the surface of the water so that he may see the creature, his very body rebelled against the wishes of his brain.

Almost unbidden – but certainly not without Harry knowing – his hand extended toward hers, slowly at first, but there was no doubt that he was slowly increasing the speed that his hand was heading toward hers. She turned her attention toward his approaching hand, and a self-conscious Harry stopped his hand movement. Her right eyebrow formed an arch over her eye, but there was no accusation in her facial gesture, it was a mere unspoken question.

Still, Harry consciously held his hand, and it was not until Hermione actually started to reach for his hand with hers did Harry realize that the reason that Hermione had raised her eyebrow toward him was because she was wondering how long he would take before he would place his hand upon hers.

A smile came across the face of Harry, and he was glad – _'more than glad, actually,'_ he thought to himself – as the smile on his face was reflected upon hers. Without words being exchanged between the two of them, the right hand of Harry resumed its movement, and within a few moments, Harry found himself clutching the hand of Hermione on his.

The feeling of his flesh upon his was something that Harry would readily admit that he had never experienced before. He had held hands with many women in his life – as the son of a relatively high ranking noble, he was never without a partner in the many balls and galas that his parents have forced him to attend – but the feeling of the hand of this young woman upon his was something that he would not be able to readily describe, and he doubted if the most gifted of writers that he had ever met could do justice in describing exactly what Harry felt at that moment.

He was, however, not alone in feeling that indescribable feeling. The young woman whose hand he held on his own felt the exact same thing, though unlike Harry, the logical mind of Hermione had to _try _to find a description, a reason, why the hand she held on her own made her feel safe, a feeling that she had never felt before. Her parents had come close to this feeling of safety that she was now feeling, but this safety, this is different.

At almost the exact same time, they realized that they were staring at each other and a bit of color rushed up their faces to signify their embarrassment. At the same time, they removed their gaze from each other, embarrassed, but it was apparent that the embarrassment that both felt was not enough to force them to remove their hands from each other, because even as they removed their gaze from the other, the physical contact remained as neither Harry nor Hermione even bothered to remove their hand from the other.

'_What am I doing?'_ Hermione asked herself as she stared at the mountains at the distance, before she finally acknowledged – as Harry had – that there were no words that she could use to describe what she felt at that moment, '_What is this I am feeling? I've never felt this way before.'_

Both Harry and Hermione would easily admit that at that moment, what they felt was bliss, but like all good things, it must come to an end, and for the two young magicals who first met just last night, that end came with a cough from the direction of the castle.

Almost instantly, Harry and Hermione opened their hands and let go. Both felt a momentary regret at the lost of physical contact, but both were somewhat mollified when both realized that this was just the beginning. It took them a good three seconds before they turned their attention toward the direction where the offending sound came from.

Clad in the same muted blue uniform as Harry, Edward Brooke looked even more embarrassed than the two youngsters, a condition brought about by the fact that the young naval cadet had realized that he had intruded upon a moment that he really should not have intruded upon. The young cadet, however, was also confused, for as far as he knew, his partner and the young woman whose hand he held on his own before he disturbed them had only met last night.

It made no sense for the two of them to become this close – literally – overnight. Still, Edward knew that it was not for him to comment. Harry is old enough to take care of himself, and besides, there is a procedure that the naval cadets were forced to memorize before they were given instructions to join this deployment.

A sigh escaped from the lips of Edward, but not one seen by either Harry or Hermione. Edward was well aware that one of the reasons that the brigade had been sent to Hogwarts was to guard against a possible threat from _within_ the school. For that reason, the cadets – whom everyone agreed was the most likely to be approached for recruitment by possible subversive elements owing to their age and the fact that they are magical – have been warned against allowing themselves to get too close with either the students or the staff.

With a subtle shake of his head, however, Edward told himself that he owes Harry a chance to explain himself, and if the young man who was appointed cadet leader for this operation fails to give Edward an explanation that the young man would find satisfactory, then Edward would not hesitate to begin the procedure.

"Cadet Brooke?" Harry asked. Edward was forced back to the present as he noted that even though Harry had acknowledged his presence, the cadet leader had not even bothered to move from where he stood, an action – or rather, an inaction – that caused Edward to raise his eyebrow toward Harry.

It was obvious to Edward that his friend had seen his subtle action – he was not so sure about the young lady, but at that moment, Edward did not care – but Harry chose to ignore the action from his friend, an action that would have brought a frown on the face of Edward had he not remembered that at that moment, he was not speaking to Harry as his friend, rather, he was speaking to Harry as his commanding officer.

The young naval cadet was able to muster to attention faster than even he himself thought possible. Edward did not bother to salute, however, since despite the fact that Harry is his de facto commanding officer, they have the same rank – '_which, come to think of it, makes us the lowest ranking officers in the brigade,_' Edward thought.

"Cadet Leader," Edward replied, choosing to use the formal title of Harry rather than his name as he was supposed to. Edward hoped that that would alert his friend that Edward was running on high gear right now, "I have located the office of the headmaster,"

Harry blinked, twice, in confusion. As far as he was concerned, the mission to find the office of the headmaster was for him alone. He could not even remember telling Edward – or any of the other eight cadets with him for that matter – to help him find the office.

It took Harry all of two seconds to realize what was going on. It was at that time that a frown came across the face of Harry, and he was immediately of two minds regarding this distraction by his friend, but eventually, the young cadet decided against dressing down his friend. Harry had no doubt that Edward believed that he was doing the right thing, something that Harry would violently – if need be – disagree on.

Harry turned his attention slightly toward his side – and toward Hermione- before he focused his full attention toward his second-in-command. With a nod that was almost to himself, Harry decided that he best not lose his temper, especially considering that Hermione is in front of them, a decision that almost instantly caused Harry to ask himself a question, '_What is so special about this girl?'_

"Excellent," Harry said a few moments later. It was only after he had said that that he had moved from where he stood, but Harry did not move toward Edward, he moved to his side toward Hermione at the same time that she turned her attention away from Edward – whom she was giving a kind of stare that Edward could not decide if hostile or irritated. Edward watched as Harry and Hermione stared at each other for a few moments, neither saying a thing.

Finally, just as Edward was once more about to pointedly clear his throat – '_damn the consequences anyway, what could Harry do?'_ he thought to himself – Hermione broke the silence.

Unaware that Harry had _not_ ordered Edward – or any of his classmates – to help him search for the office of the headmaster, Hermione assumed that the time for leisure had ended, and the time for business had returned. A mental sigh that was not reflected upon the physical world came out of her before she said, "I have to go to class anyway,"

Harry looked positively disappointed at the announcement, but after a few moments, a small smile came across his face, "We should talk about the difference of our schooling in more depth," he suggested, "perhaps after your class today?"

Hermione bit her lip, an action that would have suggested to those who knew her well – and there are not that many of them – that she was deep in thought. After a few moments, a bright smile came across her face and she said, "That would be nice, but would you be free?"

Harry glanced toward Edward, but this time, the other naval cadet did not even bother to respond to the unasked question. Harry stared at him for a few moments, silently demanding an answer, but when his old friend and partner refused to give any, he just mentally sighed – aware that there was nothing that he could do that would be legally endorsed by either his commanding officer or by his liege lord – before he returned his attention toward Hermione, "I will find some time tonight to speak with you," he promised her. He smiled and asked, "May I know what class you are supposed to be taking today?"

"Potions in a few minutes," Hermione replied promptly. She bit her lip once more – an action that Harry realized was intoxicating to him – before she added, "and I best not be late, Professor Snape seems to take it personally when a student is late for his class, especially if the student is from Gryffindor," and as an afterthought, she added, "not that I have ever been late before."

Harry smiled in amusement, "I would not want you to get into trouble because of me," Harry replied, he politely inclined his head toward Hermione before he said, "It was nice meeting you again, and I hope to see you again tonight."

Hermione smiled, "I look forward to that as well, Mr. Potter, or should that be Cadet Potter?" she asked, but before waiting for an answer, she smiled toward Harry before she started to walk briskly back to the entrance to the castle from where she and Harry had came from. She did pointedly ignore Edward as the other naval cadet inclined his head politely toward her as she walked past him.

For a few moments, both Harry and Edward watched the retreating back of Hermione, but once the back of Hermione was covered by the polished stone that make up the external wall of Hogwarts, Harry turned his attention toward Edward. It was apparent that the other cadet was expecting this to happen, because at the same time that Harry turned his attention toward his friend, Edward also turned his attention toward him.

Edward, however, was not fast enough to have the first sentence of the conversation, that belonged to Harry, who, uncharacteristically, was on the verge of losing his temper, "What the hell was that about?" he asked.

The other cadet was not surprised by the outburst that came from his normally calm and collected friend. It did, however, serve to place Edward on guard as the cadet realized that Harry was probably already compromised. Still, Edward knew that he had to give his friend a chance, "I was covering you, you selfish dolt," Edward replied, his tone surprising both himself and Harry for it was a notch or two angrier than usual.

Harry might have been taken aback by the anger that marinated the voice of his friend, but at that moment, he was not one for backing down, and the next words that came out of his mouth confirmed that, "From what?" he demanded.

"From you," Edward replied, this time, calmer than when the conversation had first begun. A sigh escaped from the mouth of Edward, but before Harry could comment on anything, the other naval cadet continued, "You are on the verge of compromising yourself, if you have not already done so, and it is my job to prevent that from happening."

"I seem to have not gotten that when we were briefed prior to deployment," Harry commented.

Edward scoffed at him, "You did not because you are intentionally refusing to see the bigger picture," he replied, he paused for a few moments, moments that he used to turn his attention away from Harry and toward the direction where Hermione came from, as if he was afraid that she would return, "You're compromising yourself for a girl that you had just met, you don't know her," he shook his head before he added, "Do you not remember the first set of secret orders that we were given prior to deployment?"

Harry blinked, because as far as he was concerned, he was only given one set of secret orders, but after a few moments, he realized that his partner was already taking into account the new orders that they had received. With a curt nod that most senior cadets back at Annapolis would have taken offense at, Harry indicated to his partner that he remembered that one of the reasons that they had been sent to Hogwarts was to watch the students for any probably subversive leanings.

"I remember what we are supposed to do," Harry replied hotly. He stared at his friend with a hard look for a few moments, but upon realizing that there was nothing that he could do even if he were to stare at Edward till the world ends – '_like that would be a great way to pass time, I'd rather be staring at Hermione instead,'_ Harry thought to himself – he just shrugged and started to walk toward the direction of the castle, without even bothering to see if his friend was following him.

"Do you truly insist on compromising yourself, Harry?" Edward asked. He had to sprint in order to catch up with Harry, and he was beside the young man who was placed in charge of the cadets for this deployment when he observed, "You've just met her, and despite the fact that she is a first-generation does not mean that she could not have been influenced by the separatist."

"We are not even sure if there are separatists in the school, Edward," Harry replied as they crossed the gate and stepped into the school, "In any case, Hermione would never line herself with the separatist."

"You speak as if you have known her for a long time," Edward observed, a smile came across his face as he tried a tentative solution to diffuse the already worsening situation, "I know I asked you to find a girlfriend, but going for the first girl that you met takes the cake."

Harry paused and stared at Edward with a hard expression, causing the other cadet to pause. Edward realized that he may have taken things a bit too far, but after a moment or two, a smile cracked the stern visage of Harry and he replied, "I can assure you, Edward, Hermione would not line herself with traitors to the Golden Throne," he smiled before he asked a seemingly unrelated question, "Do you remember Commodore Granger?"

Edward nodded, "Deputy Chief of Staff to the General-Admiral, Grand Fleet, Commodore Richard Granger?" he asked, and when Harry nodded, it was the turn of Edward to ask the question, "What about him?"

Harry smirked at his friend as he resumed walking toward one of the entrances to the castle. He allowed a full five seconds to pass in silence before Harry explained his reason for asking the question, "Hermione is his niece," he said.

Edward blinked, twice, in surprise, but after a few moments, he nodded and a smile came across his face, "There is no way that a family member of a member of the close staff of Lord Alexander would ever think of betraying the Holy Empire," he replied, but then a sigh escaped from his lips as he observed, "The girl, however, we have no idea how long she had been here and you and I both know that there are magical ways of influencing someone,"

"No doubt you suspected that she had influenced me when you first saw us," Harry observed, but before Edward can reply – either in the affirmative or negative – Harry quickly added, "That is the reason that I asked for her to accompany me this weekend," he said. He fixed his friend another stern look, but not one as hostile as the first, before he added, "My liege is sure to travel with a contingent of escorts, he would surely bring a mind-reader, or it may be that we would not even have a need for that because Commodore Granger could handle his niece."

Edward looked unconvinced, but after a few moments, he finally nodded, "Very well," he conceded, "but I am still worried about her trying to influence you."

Harry smiled as he shook his head. He turned his attention away from his friend and returned it toward the school. Without even bothering to look at the direction of Edward, Harry said, "I am old enough to take care of myself," before he sighed and added, "Now, why don't you show me where the office of the headmaster is so that we may speak with him as soon as possible?"

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

The office of the headmaster of Hogwarts was not as opulent as Harry had expected, but it was still a tad too much for the cadet. Certainly, Harry could not imagine having more than three dozen magical portraits of former headmasters and headmistresses of the school hanging from the wall, but he could understand the wisdom that having such a pool of advisors could bring.

What surprised Harry the most, however, even more than the phoenix that rested at the perch by the side of the headmaster's desk, was a mahogany desk located at the far end of the room. Various silver instruments rested upon the surface of this desk, occasionally doing odd things that Harry and Edward – who had accompanied Harry for this talk – could only assume was exactly what those things were designed to do. For the life of the two naval cadets, however, they could not see a reason for an instrument whose sole purpose appear to be to emit smoke every few seconds that dissipate before it could even form something.

Neither Harry nor Edward chose to make an issue of the eccentricities – or rumored, anyway – of the Hogwarts headmaster. Both supposed that the man – being as old as he is – is entitled to a few of them.

Headmaster Dumbledore, however, was not alone in the room. as with Harry, the headmaster of Hogwarts had chosen to bring some people into the meeting, but it did surprise both Harry and Edward that the Headmaster had brought three people with him to the meeting – _'I thought that they are supposed to be having classes,'_ Harry thought to himself as he recognized the three professors that the headmaster had brought with him, ostensibly as advisors.

'_Potions Master Severus Snape, Hogwarts professor for potions,'_ Harry thought to himself as he studied the dour man who stood at the side of the Headmaster. The meeting had not yet even began and already the man looked as if he had swallowed something that he does not agree with whole. That was all that both Harry and Edward needed to see in order to know that the potions master of Hogwarts would not be at their side. Considering the intelligence that the cadets had been given before the deployment, however, it would probably be more surprising if the potions master would side _with_ them.

The other two people inside the office that the headmaster had brought with him were more of the big question marks. Harry turned his attention toward the strict looking bespectacled woman who had her long hair tied up in a neat bun behind her head. He had no doubt that she is a strict professor, but that she is fair and that having her as a professor would be quite an experience.

If forced, however, Harry would admit that his opinion regarding transfiguration mistress and the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts had been colored by the stories that he had heard from his father, mother, and uncles before he even began his formal education. It was clear that Minerva McGonagall had made an impression on her students.

Imperial Intelligence was not sure where her loyalties would fall once the line was drawn. There was just not enough information about her personally to make the eggheads at Langley comfortable to make decisions regarding her. They did note, however, that from what little information they have, that the Deputy Headmistress _might_ side with the Golden Throne, noting that she came from a family who had fought with the Holy Empire during the reconquest of the British Isles.

'_Family,' _Harry thought to himself, _'Is that how they make decisions?'_

Harry supposed that there is nothing wrong with assuming that the loyalty of a family would be carried over by the next generation, after all, the Holy Empire was built upon generations of loyal families that had became peers, but it is not prudent to make assumptions based only upon the loyalty of family.

A case in point would be the other person inside the office of the headmaster. His diminutive stature and his facial characteristics betray his goblin ancestry, and it was precisely because of this ancestry that Filius Flitwick, charms professor of Hogwarts and former dueling champion, had not only been denied the position of Deputy Headmaster – '_In any case, he probably does not want it,'_ Harry thought to himself – but also of other benefits that the Hogwarts board would readily give to entice professors to teach.

Flitiwck had also put up with the restrictions that had been placed upon goblins when the Holy Empire retook the British Isles, and had mostly kept to himself. This, apparently, was not enough for the eggheads at Langley, because the intelligence pack that they had provided from the cadets clearly state that the charms professor is not to be trusted.

'_It is official policy of the Holy Empire to suppress the goblins,'_ Harry thought to himself as he remembered the history lessons that he had been forced to remember back when he was a student.

The tunnel that allowed the French Emperor to cross the English Channel was built by the goblins after the Emperor's mage advisors offered the goblins the power to control the central bank of the new French Empire. Things did not turn out the way that both sides had planned, and the fall out caused a minor skirmish between the goblins and their erstwhile human allies.

Despite the fact that it was the goblins who ensured that no underground tunnel could be created again underneath the channel – their magic had warded the entire island against such engineering projects – when the Holy Empire retook the British Isles, the goblins became second-class citizens, distrusted by the new rulers of the Isles.

At some unseen and unspoken signal, the Headmaster decided that it was time to begin the meeting, and with that, Albus turned his attention toward Harry, and said, "Harry, my boy…"

Harry cut him off, "Headmaster," Harry began formally, "Let us please remain formal, please refer to me as Cadet Potter and my companion as Cadet Brooke," he replied, he noted that Professor Snape looked livid at the suggestion, but Harry ignored the man as he focused all of his attention toward the Headmaster.

The same could not be said about Edward, however, and the other cadet kept his gaze at the potions master, albeit in such a way that the potions master could not comment about it. that, however, was the reason that Edward was brought into this meeting, to watch the back of Harry in case any of the professors inside the room were to try something funny.

Not that Harry is expecting them to do something stupid, anyway, but it never hurts to be prepared.

"Quite," the Headmaster said a few moments later, and though he tried to keep his voice neutral, Harry could detect the faintest hint of disappointment behind his tone. A small smile crept up the face of Harry at that, one that he was careful against showing his audience, as he told himself that he truly does not care of the headmaster was disappointed in him or not.

As far as Harry was concerned, there is a chance that the Headmaster is a part of the problem that they have been sent here to replace, not the solution.

'_Strange then that I considered Hermione a solution far more than a problem,'_ he thought to himself, and now that he was away from her for a relatively long time, he found that he could muster his discipline once more and actually began questioning the decision that he had made just this morning, '_The fact that the Deputy Chief of Staff and Adjutant of my liege lord is her uncle should not have been enough for me to class her with allies, at least, not without confirming it with the commodore.'_

'_Strange,'_ Harry thought to himself, but even as he attempted to paint Hermione in a bad light in his mind, he realized that he could not do so, '_Ah well,'_

Further musings on the part of Harry were interrupted at that moment when Professor Snape injected himself into the conversation, "How long would you be staying at this _school_?" he asked, his tone suggesting sarcasm and irritation.

Harry did note that his fellow professors – the Headmaster included – frowned after the potions master had finished his piece, and he filed that information away for use for a later time. It was, however, apparent, that not even his colleagues enjoy the company of the sour-faced man.

"We would remain here for as long as it takes to finish our mission," Harry replied, causing everyone – Edward included – to turn their attention toward him with incredulous expressions on their faces. It was obvious what the reason for the surprise behind the eyes of the Hogwarts staff are, after all, they had been told that this deployment is an 'exercise' rather than a mission, this is the first time that they are hearing someone say that this is an active operation of some type.

The reason behind the surprise of Edward was also obvious, though Harry would admit that it took him sometime before he realized it. His friend and partner was surprised that Harry had revealed to the staff the fact that they have a mission even if Harry had not – _yet_ – revealed what the parameters of the mission is. It had become necessary, however, to reveal the mission to the Headmaster, if only to ensure that the Headmaster would not interfere with the operation.

"I am afraid that I had not been informed that you have an active operation, Har…," a glare from the direction of Harry caused the Headmaster to quickly amend his form of address for the young man, "Cadet Potter," he said.

"We had been recently warned of this change of operations, Headmaster," Harry replied easily, he paused for a few moments before he added, "I am afraid that I could not tell you the exact details of the operation, and I could only limit the information that I could give you to those facts that I, in the exercise of my discretion, believe would allow you to assist us in the accomplishment of our objective."

"Why you little…," Professor Snape began.

This time, Harry turned his attention toward the potions master, and fixed him a glare that – although Professor Snape would not admit it – reminded the potions master of the glare of his childhood rival James. To see the deep green eyes of the woman that he loved for more than half his life stare at him with such contempt was more than the potions master could handle, and without really meaning to, Severus Snape backed down.

This allowed Harry to return his attention toward the Headmaster, and though Albus had not yet asked the question, Harry was already aware what the Headmaster was thinking, allowing Harry to answer the unasked question, "You do not have the security clearance to know, Headmaster," he replied simply.

Albus blinked – twice – in surprise. He glanced toward his potions master, expecting the man to launch into another tirade, but apparently, the glare that Harry had given him but moments ago was more than enough to neuter him, for now. The Headmaster had planned to distract Harry long enough to allow the Potions Master to enter his mind and extract information – namely, where James and Lily Potter are – but it appears that that would not be happening soon given the condition of the potions master.

"I see," the Headmaster replied to the statement of Harry at the same time that he performed passive Legilimancy on the mind of Harry. To his surprise, the Headmaster found himself not only rebuffed, he found himself discovered. The reaction of Harry, however, was what really surprised the Headmaster the most. Whereas he had expected an angry tirade, Harry merely stared at the Headmaster and said, "Attempting to enter my mind, again, would cause you, Headmaster, I suggest that you control your curiosity about what I am thinking about to yourself, another attempt would see you arrested, and given the number of classified information that I had been keeping, losing your magic would be the least of your worries."

The gasps that came from the assembled professors was expected, by both Harry and Albus, though the latter was once more surprised that Professor Snape was not jumping to his feet and calling Harry Potter a number of choice terms.

Expectedly, however, none of his remaining professors rose to defend the Headmaster. The fact that Albus had been caught attempting to enter the mind of Harry was more than enough to make both Minerva and Filius hesitant to jump to the defense of their superior.

"I apologize for my attempted intrusion, Cadet Potter," the Headmaster replied easily, a reaction that caused both Harry and Edward to wonder if the Headmaster truly meant what he had just said, but since that is neither here nor there, both Harry and Edward decided to let it slip, which was a good thing, because the Headmaster quickly added a question, "How can we help you in the accomplishment of this mission, Cadet Potter?" he asked.

"We need access to the school, Headmaster," Harry replied, and before both Minerva or Filius could enter a rejoinder, Harry added, "I assure you that what we are going to do would be of great benefit to both the school and those that are currently residing – or would reside – in it," he paused before he added, "You might even say that, should we succeed in this operation, your school would truly be the best protected site in the whole of the British Isles."

Albus doubted that, but the Headmaster knew that he had no room to maneuver in this situation. In any case, he also doubted that whatever it is that the muggle military would do in the school, it would not endanger the lives living within the walls of the castle. Just as the magical world is bound by an oath to the Golden Throne, so is the Golden Throne bound by oath to the magical world.

"Very well," the Headmaster replied easily enough. There was another reason why the Headmaster was agreeing, and it was so that he could get into the good side of Harry. His Legillimacy probe having been effectively rebuffed and detected told the Headmaster that Harry not only has Occulumency training, he was probably close to being a master in the art. If the Headmaster could not enter the mind of Harry without being detected – if at all – then a relative newcomer to the art like Severus Snape would sure as hell not be able to do it.

The Headmaster would admit, if pressed, that the reason that he agreed to what Harry had asked for him despite the inherent dangers and despite the fact that he truly does not know what Harry was asking was so that he could get Harry to talk about his parents and – more importantly – where the Potters are and what they had been up to in the fourteen years that they had disappeared from the magical world.

"He gave you what you want pretty easily enough," Edward commented as he and Harry walked pass the threshold that marked the beginning of the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts. As soon as they were clear, the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to the office came alive and blocked the path, though neither Harry nor Edward commented on that.

Instead, the words that came out from the mouth of Harry had something to do with what his partner and friend had just said, "He wants to get into our good side," Harry replied. He paused for a few moments – but not in his walking – before he added, "He wants to know where my parents are, he had always wanted to know, hence the reason that he had initially imprisoned my godfather."

"I don't get it, though," Edward said, he stared at Harry and asked, "Why not just ask the relevant services?"

Harry smiled, "He's a wizard, and he's the head of their form of parliament," he replied, "Albus Dumbledore might not display it, but he has an innate feeling of superiority against the non-magicals common to the 'purebloods' in this region, so he would not ask them, even if my father practically told him that he could be found by asking someone in authority in the mundane world," he shook his head and added, "He doesn't even know that I have a sister, and we plan on keeping it that way."

For a few moments, Edward did not reply, but finally he asked, "Do you think the Headmaster is a threat, Harry?"

"Anything is possible," Harry replied, but then he shook his head and quickly added, "As things are right now, I do not think the Headmaster and the Golden Throne are in disagreement, but I could certainly see the Headmaster rebelling against the Golden Throne should he convince himself that it is for the good of the many."

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

Hermione could safely say that she was having a good day, which was a rare occurrence in and of itself. Last evening, she had made the acquaintance of one Harry James Potter, not aware of how important that meeting was.

As she entered the Great Hall to join the rest of the student body for lunch, she would freely admit that even right now, she does not know how important the event in her life would be, but now, after that morning and after he had invited her to join him for the weekend, she was sure that though she is not aware of the significance behind the meeting, it was an important meeting that would change her life.

To top it all off was the fact that Professor Snape chose not to make an appearance in his class. In the five years that she had been a student at Hogwarts, this was the first time that the potions master had chosen not to make an appearance in his own class. Hermione might enjoy learning and studying, but even she sometimes gets fed up with the sour-faced potions master who seems to think that he should be teaching students who already know potions, instead of being the one to teach the students in the first place.

The real cherry on the icing, however, would be her meeting with Harry tonight. Somehow, the mere thought of being with the young naval cadet tonight brought a bright smile upon her face that threatened to outshine even the most powerful _lumos_ charm that she could muster with her wand.

The loud and vivacious laughter that assaulted the ears of Hermione brought her out of her reverie and she was forced back into the present. Lunch time was always the loudest time at the Great Hall. Aside from the fact that all students have lunch period at the same time, this was also the time when most of the Hogwarts staff would not be present. Unlike breakfast – which is served from six in the morning up till nine so not all students are at the Great Hall at the same time – and dinner – which is the most formal of the three eating periods and attended by most of the staff – lunch time was also the time to pick when one wants to make a statement.

That is also the reason why lunch time is the time when the most detentions during free period are given.

Hermione made her way toward the Gryffindor table at the far right hand side of the hall, completely oblivious to the fact – '_well, not really, I'm just ignoring them,'_ Hermione thought to herself – of the poisonous looks that most of the girls inside the hall are giving him. She was used to being given poisonous looks, but from the intensity of some of the stares at her, she could guess that the fact that she is supposed to meet with Harry – '_strange, since when did I think of him as 'Harry'?'_ she asked herself – tonight had already made the rounds.

A sigh escaped from Hermione, however as she took her seat at the corner of the table. As far as she was concerned, the jealous can stare at her whenever they wanted, it was not as if that is a crime, even in the convoluted and outdated penal provisions of the British Magical World.

Hermione had taken her seat when all attention was turned away from her and toward the entrance to the Great Hall. She followed suit a few moments later just in time to see Harry walk into the Great Hall.

A smile came across the face of Hermione as she mentally noted how formal and how good he looked in his uniform – she was aware that this was not even the dress uniform of naval cadets, her uncle graduated from the Imperial Naval Academy at Annapolis, after all – as he led a group of nine other cadets into the hall, one of whom caused a frown to appear on the face of Hermione as she recognized him as Cadet Edward Brooke, the young man who had cut her meeting with Harry short.

The frown on the face of Hermione widened at that, mentally commenting to herself that had she known that Professor Snape would not be attending his classes today, she would have insisted on staying with Harry.

At that moment, however, Hermione was forced to return to the present, and it was a painful and humiliating way to make her focus on the present. She caught sight of the incoming liquid as it was thrown toward her direction from nowhere, but Hermione was nowhere near fast enough to evade it. She threw herself toward the side – away from the table – and at the same time that she closed her eyes, but the resulting pain and the feeling of something wet on the right side of her face told her that she was mostly unsuccessful in her attempt.

Moments later, she felt pain at the left side of her body, caused, no doubt, by her hitting the floor. She tried to open her eyes, but only her left eye would open and she realized that something was preventing her from opening her right eye. From the stink that she smelled practically under her nose, she was able to self-diagnose herself as having been attacked by bobotuber puss, and from the pain that she felt on her face, it was obvious that it was undiluted.

'_They certainly move fast enough,'_ Hermione commented to herself even as she tried to keep herself from losing control of her emotions. Not even she was sure exactly how she would react right now, whether she would cry or be angry, in front of Harry.

Speaking of Harry, she turned her attention toward him, and was rewarded by the sight of a shocked naval cadet. The shocked look on his face, however, was quickly replaced by anger and Hermione saw him remove his gaze from her and fix it toward the direction of her table. Magic was practically burning around Harry and he took one menacing step toward the table, no doubt to take matters into his own hands, but before he could truly do so, Professor McGonagall quickly stepped into the fray.

"Detentions, Miss Weasley," the Scottish professor practically shouted, though Hermione was sure that it was more to stop Harry than anything else, "One hundred fifty points from Gryffindor and revocation of your Hogsmeade Pass, for the rest of the school year."

'_Figures that it would be her,'_ Hermione thought to herself. She tried to turn her attention back toward her own table – the fact that it was a housemate who attacked her did not surprise Hermione – but since she could not completely turn her head, she had to settle to watching Harry.

Unfortunately or fortunately, Harry had not stopped walking – calm in the middle of a raging storm of tendrils of magic that seem to surround him – toward the Gryffindor table, and Professor McGonagall had to take further action, "Cadet Potter," she said formally, "May I ask that you take Miss Granger to the Hospital Wing?" and though it was phased as a favor, everyone in the Hall knew that it was an order, never mind the fact that Harry does not really know where the hospital wing is.

Hermione watched as Harry processed the favor of Professor McGonagall, but he did not stop walking toward the table. Had Hermione had her attention toward her Head of House at that time, she would have gasped when she realized that the professor had actually drawn her wand and was ready to point it toward Harry to defend the people who had attacked Hermione.

Fortunately, Harry paused and gave the Scottish professor a tentative nod before he forced himself back under control. The tendrils of magic that seem to crack and originate from within Harry disappeared and Hermione watched as Harry sighed in an obvious attempt to keep his temper in check.

"Hey," Harry said a few moments later as he knelt beside Hermione so that he could take her in his arms, "I know this is a bit earlier than we both had planned, but would you do me the honor of staying with me and having that discussion that we talked about this morning while I bring you to the hospital wing?"

Hermione nodded, "Harry..," she said, but she was forced to stop as she felt Harry take her in his arms. She had fully expected him to allow her to walk on her own – after all, she could still walk – but it was apparent that Harry would not have that. He placed her hand under his body and her legs and with strength that she could have sworn he does not have, he lifted her to his chest.

Hermione would have protested at that action, but whatever protest that it was on her throat and ready to be launched died before it could truly be voiced. She had only felt this secure and safe when she was a toddler and in the arms of her father, but even the sense of safety and security that her father had given her that time paled in the face of the sense of safety and security that Harry was giving her as he pressed her close to his chest.

A deft movement to her side caught the attention of Hermione and she turned her attention at that direction just in time to see Cadet Brooke wave his hand. To the surprise of Hermione, the pain that she felt went away.

"Thank you," Hermione tentatively tried.

Cadet Brooke smiled at her and said, "It was nothing," though he frowned when he added, "I am afraid that that is the extent of my healing abilities, Miss Granger, the rest would have to wait till Cadet Potter could bring you to the Hospital Wing," he did not bother to wait for an answer before he turned toward Harry and said, "You take her, we'll wait for you here."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

* * *

**FIVE**

_**Imperial Parliament closes Raleigh Point Shipyards; says 'no' to further Duke-class battleships**_

_**Raleigh Point, Duchy of New York – **__In a stunning move that left many high-ranking officials of the Imperial Navy stunned, the Imperial House of Lords had decided to weigh in on the issue of the further acquisition of the Duke-class battleships, lending their support to the leadership of the House of Commons and putting an end to construction of the sixth vessel as well as canceling the four others that are yet to be laid down._

_At two hundred fifty seven meters overall and weighing more than one hundred twelve thousand tons at full load, the Duke-class of super dreadnought battleships were envisioned to be the lead ships of the Imperial war-fleets well into the twenty first century, but it appears that this would no longer be the case as the formal order to begin dismantling the hull of HMS Viscount of the Nile – named after Vice Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, Viscount of the Nile and hero of Trafalgar – was received this morning by the management of the only shipyard in the whole world that are capable of building the massive behemoths that are now mostly tasked with showing the flag._

_Originally conceived by Fleet Admiral Sir Walter Thomas Burns, then First Sea Lord, the Duke-class super dreadnought battleships are built around a new and improved command and control suite that allowed the battleships to function as command ships, and the new Mk XXII (20') heavy gun, twelve of which are carried by the super battleships in four three-gun turrets. _

_Coupled with a heavy anti-aircraft suite – nearly one hundred forty millimeter anti-aircraft guns spread all over the ship – and an armored citadel with steel armor twenty inches at its thickest, the Dukes are the most survivable of current Imperial warships, and is envisioned to be leaders of Britannian battleship divisions and dedicated command ships in the Air-Ground Concept of Operations pioneered by Fleet Admiral Burns and Field Marshall Jeremy Townsend, then Commander of the Imperial Army. The protection of the ships, however, was achieved at a cost of more than seventy one million Britannian Pounds per ship. _

"_We would be saving seventy million pounds per year, seventy million pounds that we can use for other, far more important endeavors like education and medical care," Daniel James Bean, MP for Belhaven and Head of the Federalist Party, was quoted as saying during one of the budget debates at the floor of the House of Commons._

"_It is true that seventy million pounds would be well appreciated by the Ministry of Social Affairs," High Admiral Kyle Forlani, Third Sea Lord and Commander of the Imperial Airfleet, admitted during a recent interview with BNN's Marian Attenborough, "but all the money in the world would mean nothing if we could not defend our country, and the Dukes serve that purpose not by sinking enemy ships, but just by existing as a fleet-in-being. As long as they exist, any potential enemy would have to take them into consideration."_

_Sources within the Crystal Palace are reporting that the Empress is not ready to take sides in this growing debate, but without a dissenting opinion from Her Majesty, the debate may well have been already decided. _

"_The crux of the matter in the Crystal Palace is the fact that the Duke-class are yet to prove themselves in battle," an anonymous source from within the Crystal Palace had revealed, "For Her Majesty – who has a grandson aboard one of the Duke-class battleships – the weighing scale is all about balancing the budget, would it be cheaper in the long run to continue building the Duke-class battleship – with their price-tag but a powerful ship for future foes to consider and defend against – or would it be better to fall back to the original Hermione-class replacement – cheaper, but absent the morale factor brought about by the larger Duke-class battleships."_

_Either way, however, it would appear that the Imperial Fleet would have to wait before a new battleship would join her growing line of capital ship. The last of the Duke-class battleships placed the number of Britannian first-rate battleships at one hundred sixty nine hulls, supported by seventy one first-rate battlecruisers and forty four first-rate aircraft carriers. _

_The hull of the first of this new class of warships – HMS Duke, named after the original twelve Dukes of the Holy Empire – was launched in 1983, seven years after the ship was first proposed._

_Unique among Britannian warships, the Duke-class battleships are referred to as 'he' rather than the more traditional 'she'._

_HMS Duke formally entered service six months later after trial and commissioning with the Empress herself as the primary sponsor. The lead ship of the class is now in service with the Imperial Home Fleet where she serves as the flagship of High Admiral Sir Cyrus Hughes, General-Admiral of the Imperial Home Fleet._

_The last ship of the class is HMS Iron Duke, named after Field Marshall Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, and commander of the defenders of Cornwall prior to the Passage of Tears. HMS Iron Duke was launched three years ago. He is currently the flagship of Lord High Admiral Sir Alexander Charles York, newly appointed Prince of Wales and Scotland, General-Admiral of the Imperial Grand Fleet._

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

Hermione stood in relative silence with Harry beside her, his attention aimed toward the sky and toward the direction of one of the huge mountain ranges that seem to surround the castle housing the school at three different directions.

His actions clued her to the fact that the people whose arrival they are waiting for would come from that direction, so she would also turn her attention toward that direction every few minutes to see if the people that they are expecting had already arrived. So far, however, there were no indications, and if the formally attired soldiers that are gathered in front of Hermione are to be of any assistance in this endeavor, it was the fact that although all of them are in formation, they are still relaxed and not standing in active attention. Hermione knew enough about the military to know that if the arrival is imminent, their officers would call them to attention.

More often than not, however, the attention of Hermione would be focused on the young man that stood beside her. Harry stood at a position that he had been standing on for the past week, not in terms of location perhaps, but in terms of whom he stood with. For the past week since the arrival of the brigade at Hogwarts and since their introduction to each other, Harry and Hermione had stood at the side of the other for as long as often as their respective schedules would allow them.

Class work, prefect duties, homework, and other extra-curricular activities had meant that Hermione had not as much time as she would have wanted with him, but she considered that fortuitous since his own duties had conspired to keep him away from her as well. The two of them consider themselves lucky that they have enough time to hang out with each other, often under the guise of further discussions pertaining to their duties as liaisons for their respective organizations.

Today, however, was a special day. For some reason, the Headmaster was aware that someone important was coming, and had required the students to attend the welcoming ceremony that was to be held _outside _the school. It was a good thing that it was a weekend because had it been otherwise, Hermione was sure that the Headmaster would have cancelled classes.

The hand of Harry found hers, and she turned her attention toward him with the intent of raising her eyebrow in an unasked question, but when she turned her gaze toward him, his gaze actually remained ahead of him, toward the sky where she was sure their visitors are going to arrive from. A smile crept up the face of Hermione at that, and instead of asking him the question that she wanted to ask, she merely gazed at him and took in how good he looked in his dress uniform.

As with his classmates, Harry wore a sword at his left hip, kept there by a black sash that went from his right shoulder diagonally across his chest and the front of his dark gray uniform, but unlike his classmates, he wore a dark gray combination cap over his unruly black hair with an anchor device displayed prominently on the cap. Harry had told her that the device was representative of the fact that he is a naval cadet, and that the reason that he was the only one wearing a cap – his classmates all wore dark gray berets – was because he was their de facto commanding officer.

Hermione removed her gaze from Harry and turned it toward the opposite direction. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and his staff looked either bored or amused by the formation of military men that they had their gazes focused on. Hermione neither felt obligated nor said anything to any of them that those men that they are now staring at might look too pretty for war, but at the same time that they stood in formation, they are carrying loaded rifles slung on their shoulders.

This past week had seriously eroded the faith that Hermione had with authority figures – or at least, those who are not doing their jobs properly. In the aftermath of the attack against her perpetrated by Ginevra Weasley, Hermione had lost a lot of trust with the professors. The reason for that is aside from the detentions that she had received the Weasley girl had not received any other punishment. Sure, it was a simple prank gone wrong, as the Headmaster had placed it when Hermione complained, but what the Headmaster failed to realize was that the liquid nearly got into the eye of Hermione. That would have caused damage to her vision at the least, though Madam Pomfrey, the school healer, had warned that it could have led to the lost of her sight or perhaps, even death if the liquid had managed to penetrate as deep as her brain.

Her lost of faith with her professors was one of the reasons that she stood by the side of Harry amongst the military instead of the other students, despite the fact that she knew that her open display of allegiance would have not made her friends amongst the Hogwarts students. In any case, however, Hermione knew that things would change after this event because her uncle is amongst those that are slated to visit today.

A nudge from Harry tore Hermione out of her reverie, and when she looked at him – this time with the accompanying raising of her eyebrow as a questioning gesture – Harry smiled at her once before he motioned for Hermione to turn her attention toward the direction where he and his classmates – as well as the other soldiers – had been looking at for the past ten minutes or so since they moved into position.

At first, Hermione could not see anything when she turned her gaze toward the direction that Harry had indicated, then she saw the massive dark figure that seemed to have been disgorged by the very clouds.

The dark shaped figure was huge, easily more than a hundred feet high, yet it floated amongst the clouds at ease. The distance had muted some features of the incoming object, but as that distance shrunk, Hermione could not help but suck in a breath as she realized that she was looking at the business end of six massive naval artillery pieces pointed at her. She turned her attention toward Harry and mouthed a question, "Battleship?" she asked.

Harry nodded, but for a few moments, he did not say anything, though he motioned for Hermione to return her attention to the skies. For a few moments, she looked miffed that he would not reply to her question, but she knew that there must be something that he wants to show her if he is motioning for her to look at the sky.

Her eyes widened once more when she saw that in the interval that she needed to turn her attention toward Harry, four other dark figures – battleships, she assumed – had emerged from the clouds, their noses pointing toward rear of the ship that they are following, forming an almost straight line of five battlewagons heading toward – obviously – the surface of the lake of Hogwarts.

"His Grace is a military officer, and he is the commander of the Imperial Grand Fleet," Harry said, finally turning his attention toward Hermione, a small smile on his face, "It is but fitting that he use his flagship when visiting any place, though admittedly, this is mostly because he is due further north," and at the confused look on the face of Hermione, Harry added, "Orkney Islands, he's building a new base for the Grand Fleet there, away from the primary base at Portsmouth," he shrugged and tried to convey the impression that he has no idea for the reason, "Strategic considerations," he added.

Hermione opened her mouth, but then she nodded and closed it. Despite the fact that Harry tried to show that he does not know the reason, Hermione was sure that the young naval cadet was well aware of the reason, but since he did not see fit to tell her just yet, she is going to trust him.

By this time, the five battleships had closed the distance enough for the students and staff to discern the features of the five ships. Hermione was easily able to conclude that while the first ship looked larger, more powerful, and more intimidating, the four ships that followed her looked almost similar with each other.

"_HMS Iron Duke_," Harry said as he motioned toward the first battleship, "and his consorts, _HMS Hermione, HMS Daphne, HMS Arethusa, _and _HMS Leda_."

Hermione did not reply to the introduction of Harry, she was so focused on the ships. By this time, the ships are already floating over the surface of the lake, about fifty feet and slowly losing altitude as whatever it was that kept them floating in mid-air slowly disengaged for a controlled descent.

The four battleships all have four turrets located along the centerline of the vessel, two fore and two aft, while the leading ship had six turrets along the centerline. It was, however, obvious that those twelve massive guns – there are four turrets with three guns each – are not the only weapons of the ship. Smaller turrets housing smaller guns were scatted along the side of the ship, located amidships.

What took the attention of Hermione, however, were the smaller guns that bristled all along the ship, unmanned perhaps, but intimidating nonetheless.

"There are twenty other ships of this size out there, Hermione," Harry said, forcing Hermione out of her reverie. She looked at him just in time to watch him say, "This is Lord Alexander's personal battle squadron, but I am sure there are other ships within range, probably the battlecruisers of Admiral Bingham and other battleships," he shook his head and returned his attention front as the bottom of the hull of the ships gently slipped into the water.

At the same time that the bottom of the hull split the surface of the water, a gangway was loosened from where it was secured on the top deck. Working fast but with amazing precision and well practice choreography, a team of four sailors had managed to run the gangway out at the same time that the battlewagon – _HMS Iron Duke_ – had stopped sinking into the water. A team of marines that are already on the ground secured the gangway at the other end before they took their positions along the side of the passage and stood at attention.

Ten minutes later, a gaggle of officers emerged from within the superstructure of the ship and made their way to where the gangway was attached to the ship. Hermione expected them to descent from the boat at the same time, but when the gaggle reached the quarter deck from where the gangway was, they stopped and allowed one person to descend the stairs first.

All attention was turned toward this man, even those of Hermione, so that they could study him. A combination white and black combination cap adorned his head, but he was too far for anyone from Hogwarts to see the badge on his cap. His black tail coat had a standing collar, white with gold edgings. A black and gold belt, gold-laced trousers, polished black dress shoes, black gloves, two gold shoulder boards and a sword – but without the sash worn by Harry – completed his ensemble.

"Lord Alexander," Harry said as the man took his first step at the gangway. At the same moment that the Duke took his step, the sailors and the marines that set up the gangway for him saluted despite the fact that they are not facing him. The salute was taken up by the other soldiers who waited for one of the highest ranking military officers and peer in the Empire.

Harry and Hermione watched as Brigadier General Arnott – wearing his formal dress uniform as well – stepped out of his place the moment that Lord Alexander stepped into the ground. Salutes and handshakes were exchanged before the brigadier motioned for Lord Alexander to step out of the shade, but the Duke shook his head and instead turned his attention toward the battleship again.

Harry and Hermione turned their attention toward the gangway just in time to see a young lady – relatively – descending the gangway. Hermione noted that this lady looked calm and controlled, and there was actually a smile on her face as she descended. Having no idea who this young woman was, Hermione turned her attention toward Harry with the intention of asking him.

The young cadet, however, already noted the question of Hermione before she could even ask it, "Lady Emma Charlotte Spencer, Marchioness of Montana," Harry said, "Lord Alexander's childhood friend, his closest advisor, and fiancée."

Hermione watched as Lady Emma took her position to the left hand side of Lord Alexander, but as with Lord Alexander, she refused to move from her position when Brigadier Arnott motioned for them to move into the shade.

"There are other officers that are going down," Harry answered the unasked question of Hermione.

At the same time that Lady Emma descended from the gangway, a few meters away from where Harry and Hermione stood, the staff of Hogwarts watched, most with deference, aware of the fact that the young man that had just descended from the gangway was not only the grandson of the Empress, he is also their landlord. The witches and wizards the form the teaching staff of Hogwarts are well aware of the powers of the newly named Prince of Scotland and are acting in deference, except for one Professor Snape.

"That stupid muggle contraption should not have been allowed here, Headmaster," the surly man complained as he fixed the five battleships with a look that he reserve for Gryffindors, in other words, with those that he had nothing but contempt for, "The man is attempting to intimidate us."

Before the Headmaster could answer to slightly admonish his potions professor – it was far better that it be him who would admonish the man rather than the tongue-lashing that Minerva was sure to deliver, or the look of pure contempt that Filius would give the man – but before he could even open his mouth, the Gryffindor lioness jumped into the conversation, "Aye, Snape, he is, and you should be intimidated," she said.

"Minerva..," Albus began.

That turned out to be the wrong move for the Headmaster because at that moment, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts turned toward her boss and gave him his own tongue-lashing, "That 'stupid muggle contraption' as Professor Snape points out is carrying at least twelve cannons, and from the size of those cannons, I daresay that not even the wards and the walls of Hogwarts _combined_ would protect us."

The Headmaster blinked, "Minerva, surely..," he began.

This time, it was the turn of Professor Flitwick to enter the fray, and as always, he was in agreement with Minerva, "Minerva is right," the half-goblin, half-human professor that not even Professor Snape wanted to cross said, "there are five of them, and the man that we are going to meet is the Prince of Scotland and a grandchild of the Empress, there are more of them out there, just keeping out of sight, of that, I am sure."

"I think you overestimate their capabilities," Professor Snape said with a sneer, "They're just muggles."

"I know you underestimate their abilities, young Severus," Professor Flitwick replied, emphasizing a certain word that caused the potions master of Hogwarts to turn a shade or two redder than normal, though before the man could say anything, the charms professor continued, "Who do you think invented that machine that allowed those machines to operate in the air? Their mainstream history books would tell you a complicated process of electrical reactions in confined spaces and what-not that does not really tell you anything at all, but I only need to look at it once to know how it works."

"Charms?" Minerva asked, her curiosity actually getting the better of her. Unlike Professor Flitwick, she was not a master in charms, but that was hardly surprising considering the subject that she teaches.

"Among others, yes," Professor Flitwick admitted, "Runes as well."

Professor Snape looked ready to comment, but before he could do so, the attention of everyone returned to the officers who were coming from the ship. A trio of military officers descended from the ship before the staff continued their debate, thus missing the fact that a certain Hogwarts student smiled at the sight of her uncle coming down from the flagship of the Britannian Imperial Grand Fleet.

"So they needed help from us, that proves that we are superior to them," Professor Snape said, reopening the debate.

"I should have known that you would not lose that attitude, Professor Snape," Minerva replied, a sarcastic tone attached to her use of the term professor, "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater."

The potions master again turned a shade or two redder than usual, but before he could comment, the Headmaster cut into the argument, "Minerva," he admonished his deputy, "I trust Severus," he said in a tone that suggested that he fully expected that that would be the end of this discussion.

Minerva looked belligerent for a few moments, and she would have continued the argument had the Headmaster, at that moment, not gasp at something, as if he was surprised and it was difficult to surprise the old man.

Curiosity got the better of the professors and they turned their attention toward the direction that the Headmaster was looking at when he gasped. Before they could help it, the professors also gasped as they recognized the features of the couple that was walking along the gangway toward the ground, taking a step into Hogwarts grounds for the first time since they left the magical world nearly fifteen years ago.

James and Lily Potter had returned to their school, and to Magical Britain.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

The meeting was supposed to be an informal meeting, but with the number of people involved – at least half a dozen on both sides of the table – there was no way to excuse this as an informal meeting. Sure, the topics that are going to be discussed would probably be informal in a sense, but the highest ranking members of the two sides are gathered here, their respective staff surrounding them, forming a half-circle centered on their leaders as the two men glared at each other over a table.

Lord James Charles Potter, Viscount of Lisbourne, allowed his eyes to wander. The office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts had not changed much in the nearly fifteen year interval since he and his wife had disappeared from the magical world, though in the case of this office, it was probably closer to twenty years now since the last time that James was called into this office to answer for something that the staff believed he had done was when he was in his fifth year of schooling.

'_That was a long time ago,'_ James said to himself at the same time that he glanced at his wife. Lily kept her attention straight, but she was not staring at Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts who sat in his throne, no, the Lady Potter was staring at the still stunned visage of her former best friend and the man who had insulted her in front of the whole school when they were in fifth year, Hogwart's Potions Master, Professor Severus Snape.

James would have smiled at that point as he realized that his childhood rival would welcome the stare of Lily, had it not been for the fact that as Lily stared at her old friend, her stare was marinated not with sympathy or happiness at seeing her old friend again, it was practically shining with contempt and an almost casual disregard for the fact that he exist.

'_That's probably the reason why he is still stunned,_' James said to himself, though he would not claim that that is the reason why the rest of the staff appear to be in the same limbo as their youngest member. The Viscount of Lisbourne, however, knew the exact reason behind the stunned visage of their former professors.

James returned his attention to his lord and lady, both of whom were seated in front of the Headmaster. A smile crept up the face of the Magical Advisor of the Prince of Scotland when he saw that beneath the surface of the table – and away from the field of vision of the Headmaster and any of his staff – Lord Alexander held the hand of Lady Emma on his own.

At some unseen signal, the Prince tightened his grip around the hand of his fiancée, but rather than turning his attention toward her and engaging her in conversation, the prince kept his gaze straight toward the Headmaster – who looked neutral, a trick that James knew was just that, a trick – politely inclining his head toward the older man before he opened, "Headmaster," Lord Alexander said respectfully, acknowledging the fact that Albus was older than him, but at the same time, his tone emphasized his authority, a tone that could only have been accomplished by someone like Lord Alexander who was trained from a very young age that he is a lord.

James could not do it, and neither could Lily despite the fact that both of them are members of the Imperial Britannian peerage.

"I must say," Lord Alexander continued, not even giving the Headmaster a chance to enter the conversation, "I am most pleased to see that your students are very welcoming of the soldiers of the Holy Empire."

James hid a snicker that threatened to come out of his mouth, feigning a cough as he turned his attention away from his front and toward the rear. By the time that he was done and had returned his attention to the front, two people were staring at him with raised eyebrows, his wife and his liege lord, but while the latter would let it go, James knew that his wife was going to be a different story. Fortunately, Lily was not going to make a commotion in front of everyone, well, no more of a commotion than their reappearance had already made.

"We are servants of the Golden Throne," the Headmaster replied neutrally. The rest could not be said about his staff, however. The three Heads of Houses who are aware of the power behind the Oath – McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout – looked the most neutral. They know the power behind Lord Alexander despite the fact that he is muggle.

The same could not be said about the other members of the staff, though most of whom seem resigned to the words that came out from the mouth of the Headmaster. One, however, looked ready to complain – and complain to high heaven from the look of anger in his face – had the Headmaster not glared at him to shut him up.

Having experienced the glare of the Headmaster before, this was not a novel experience for Severus Snape, but the intensity of the glare caused the Potions Master to visibly flinch before the sour-faced man settled down and closed his mouth, whatever it was that he was about to say completely forgotten in the face of an angry glare from the Headmaster.

"Good," Lord Alexander said. James knew that the prince pretended not to notice and note the interaction between the Headmaster and his staff, but Lady Emma did not even bother with that lights show. Lord Alexander might ignore the pointed gestures from their hosts, but not Lady Emma and James knew that that was how the two operated, Lord Alexander focuses on the big things while Lady Emma would be in charge of subtlety.

"I trust that Cadet Potter had informed you that I had given him a secret mission regarding your school, Headmaster?" Lord Alexander asked.

The shocked reaction from the Hogwarts staff told James and everyone in the staff of Lord Alexander that the Headmaster did not see fit to inform them of the meeting between himself and Harry – or at least, it appeared that the Headmaster neglected to inform the lowest members of his staff.

Headmaster Dumbledore, however, ignored their shocked reactions and focused his attentions toward Lord Alexander. The self-declared Leader of the Light, for a few moments, thought about entering the mind of the young but powerful – not in terms of magic, perhaps, being a muggle, but politically and militarily, this man in front of him, Albus knew, is one of the most powerful in the Empire, if not the world – but almost instantly dismissed it.

Occulumency is a rare art in the sense that muggles could learn it, and the Headmaster had no doubt that a man as powerful as Lord Alexander would have neglected it. The Headmaster also knew that there is at least one more magical in the staff of Lord Alexander, a magical bodyguard whose job it was to protect the Prince from magical attacks, and Albus knew that retaliation from such person would not be conducive to his health. In any case, it was not the magical retaliation that the Headmaster fears the most.

Albus glanced slightly toward a window that faced the Black Lake of Hogwarts. The row upon neat row of uniformed color tents and armored personnel carriers was more than enough to chill the Headmaster to the bones. He had no doubt that those men would react if their liege lord – '_Actually, seeing that he is my landlord, he is supposed to be my liege lord, as well,'_ Albus thought to himself – was in any danger.

As terrifying as three thousand angry soldiers armed with rifles, heavy machineguns, and grenades are, however, they pale in comparison to the five battleships that float idly on the surface of the Black Lake, forming a neat line.

Their armored turrets housing their big guns might be pointing fore and aft right now, but the Headmaster had no doubt that those turrets – and those ships – could swing toward where he is in less than five minutes. Despite the ramblings of his potions master, Albus knew exactly just how powerful those guns could be, having encountered them during his youth – well, relative youth – while hunting for Grindelwald in mainland Europe.

It was for this reason that the Headmaster of Hogwarts decided against entering the mind of Lord Alexander, forcibly or otherwise. The Headmaster made a mental note to warn Severus about this later at the same time that he hoped that Severus would use his admittedly powerful brain to think about the possible consequences of an unauthorized mind probe in the direction of Lord Alexander.

'_Come to think of it,'_ Headmaster Dumbledore thought to himself, as he turned his attention slightly toward the young lady who sat by the side of the Prince, '_It's probably not a good idea to probe the Marchioness as well.'_

"Yes, Cadet Potter had informed me of the mission, but not the specifics," Albus replied a few moments later, earning more shocked looks from the faces of his staff as they realized that not only had the Headmaster not informed them of _that_ meeting, it would appear that the Headmaster had allowed the unknown mission to proceed despite the fact that the Headmaster was completely unaware of the specifics of the operation.

Strangely, they seem more insulted with the fact that the Headmaster was unaware of the specifics of the mission than they are about the fact that the Headmaster had not seen fit to inform them of the meeting.

Lord Alexander nodded, "This is an important mission," the Prince said in a matter-of-factly voice that would broker no argument, either from his side or the side of the Headmaster and his staff. The Prince looked thoughtful for a few moments before he added, "National Security, not only of the mundane, but also of the magical, world is at stake here, and I am happy that you had allowed my people to do their job."

Albus smiled at the Prince despite the fact that deep within him, he wanted to scream at the man and inform him that there was only two choices available to him at that point, either cooperate with the demands of the military men that are encamped just outside his gates or be crushed by those same men that are encamped just outside his gates. There really was no decision to make.

Speaking of those military men that are encamped just outside his gates…

"Highness," Albus began, and a frown crossed his face when he saw that Lord Alexander did not look at him when he used the honorific term. The Headmaster looked perturbed and was about to say something else when he was cut off, and the interference came from an unexpected source.

"'Your Grace' would be the appropriate term, Headmaster," Lily Potter said from her position beside her husband, "His Grace prefers the honorific term for a Duke rather than a Prince because His Grace has been a Duke far longer than he has been a Prince."

"Of course, Lily, I…," the Headmaster began.

Once more, Lily cut him off. Using a tone that was both disrespectful and respectful – at the same time, no less – Lily said, "The proper address for me and my husband is Lord and Lady Potter, Headmaster," she said in a matter-of-factly voice that caused a grin to appear on the face of James, though again, he hid it from the rest of the occupants of the room. The Viscount of Lisbourne had no doubt that even Lord Alexander and Lady Emma had grins on their face that point.

"Seeing that we were once your students, Headmaster, I think we could dispense with the honorific terms for us, but the same could not be said for the Prince or the Marchioness," Lily suddenly said.

"Yes, Lady Potter, of course," the Headmaster stammered, "Quite an honor you have bestowed upon me, Lily, to allow me to call you and James by your first names."

"We were your students, Headmaster," Lily replied with a tone of finality that caused James to smile. Essentially, his wife had pulled the breaches of the Headmaster, spanked him, then pulled the breaches back where she had found it, giving the staff of Hogwarts no reason to complain at all.

Judging from the looks on the faces of the staff, it was obvious that complain was the one thing that they wanted to do right now.

"Your Grace," Albus began a few moments later, letting bygone be bygones – mostly because he knew that he could not win – and when Lord Alexander turned his attention toward the Headmaster, Albus said, "May we talk about the men that are stationed outside the gates of the school?"

"Certainly," Lord Alexander replied, "'C' Brigade, 22nd Infantry Division, under Brigadier General Winston Arnott and augmented by ten cadets from the Imperial Naval Academy, Headmaster, as I believe you had been informed, they are here to conduct some maneuvers."

The Headmaster wanted to point out that since their arrival, the only thing that the brigade was doing was sitting around and apparently waiting for something to happen. There are certainly no maneuvers being conducted, and the Headmaster was about to complain about that when he realized that while the Prince might decide to pull this brigade back where it came from, another would just take its place.

That brigade might be accompanied by a different team of cadets, and the Headmaster wanted Harry Potter in Hogwarts right now, so he decided against complaining, "How long would we host them, Your Grace?" Albus asked instead.

Lord Alexander shook his head, and with a smile, he said, "To tell you the truth, Headmaster, I have no idea," he replied truthfully, but instead of waiting for a reply from the Headmaster, he turned his attention toward one of his uniformed staff members and asked, "Vice Admiral Cline?"

Vice Admiral Kevin Francis Cline, chief-of-staff to Lord Alexander, replied right away, "The brigade has enough supplies for one month of deployed and continuous operations, Admiral," he reported, "I suppose that they are going to stay until their supplies run out, after all, they are Army, we are Navy."

Lord Alexander nodded and turned his attention toward the Headmaster with a look on his face that clearly asked the Headmaster if that answered his question.

The Headmaster nodded, happy that within a month, the soldiers would be leaving, though that meant that he only had a month to convert Harry Potter. He expected no problems with converting the young Potter to his way of thinking though.

Of course, the Headmaster assumed that when Vice Admiral Cline mentioned 'deployed and continuous operations', the man meant exactly what the brigade was doing right now. The truth was, the brigade was on reduced operations deployment since they were deployed. While it is true that the brigade only has a month's worth of supply with them, that was for continued _battlefield_ operations – a shooting war which meant that the brigade was always on the move. That was hardly the case here. The truth was, the brigade had enough supplies to last them more than a month.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

Harry instantly snapped to attention – as did the nine other naval cadets with him – when Lord Alexander entered the command tent where Harry and the cadets were waiting for him. Hermione stood from where she was seated just a second or two after the naval cadets.

Lord Alexander was quickly followed into the command tent by his staff, both military and civilian, but Harry restrained himself from running to his parents to greet them, waiting for permission from Lord Alexander.

The Prince waved them back to their seats, but while the nine others resumed their seats, Harry remained standing, and because Harry remained standing, Hermione remained standing as well, "Your Grace," Harry began.

Lord Alexander removed his sword and gently handed it to the waiting hands of Lady Emma – alone among the Britannian peerage is Lady Emma, when it comes to holding the sword of not only an active military officer, but the sword of a member of the Royal Family – who took it without words before she secured it inside a briefcase that was carried by an enlisted man who was part of the staff of Lord Alexander.

Only when the Prince had removed his weapon – and his headgear, revealing his short, black hair – did he turn toward Harry with a questioning look. It not the first time that he had seen Harry with the beautiful young lady that now stood by his side – after all, he had seen them this morning – and the Prince quickly realized that the son of two of his most trusted advisors was about to introduce the young woman to him.

"Your Grace," Harry repeated, his tone suddenly strained and high as he attempted to contain his nervousness, "May I present, Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione curtsied in front of Lord Alexander and the Prince acknowledged the curtsy with a slight smile and by politely inclining his head toward Hermione, "Any relation to Rear Admiral Granger?" the Prince asked.

"My uncle, Your Grace," Hermione replied. She had thought about using the honorific 'Your Highness', but since Harry used that honorific, Hermione figured that it would be for the best if she were to follow suit and use that honorific term instead.

The smile on the face of Lord Alexander widened at that, "Yes, Richard has been a godsend," Lord Alexander said a few moments later, he inclined his head toward Hermione once more before he said, "Do forgive me, Miss Hermione, but I would be in your debt if I could borrow young Harry for a few moments?"

Hermione blinked, "Yes…, of course, Your Grace," Hermione stammered, taken aback by the words of the Duke, though she was paying attention when the Duke actually bowed toward her before he turned toward Harry and motioned for him to follow.

A sigh escaped from the lips of Harry – and he did not even bothered to hide it – as he followed the Prince. First, they went out of the tent before they climbed into the rear of the command vehicle of Brigadier General Arnott. Harry was surprised to see that the command vehicle was empty, something that almost never happens because there are supposed to be people on duty here at all times.

He would later learn that for the duration of the visit of Lord Alexander, headquarters had been transferred to the bridge of _HMS Iron Duke_, where the flag-captain of Lord Alexander and his marine commander are on duty.

"How goes the mission?" Lord Alexander asked Harry without preamble. At the same time that the Prince asked that question, he pulled a chair and sat down before he motioned for Harry to do the same. Uncomfortable with the fact that he was alone with someone as high ranking and as powerful as his liege lord, Harry was grateful for the permission to seat, he felt as if his legs would give up under him.

"We are scouring the castle for the item, Your Grace….," seeing the frown that appeared on the face of Lord Alexander, Harry quickly amended the honorific term, "Admiral."

"The week has been busy," Lord Alexander commented off-handedly a few moments later. The Prince paused for a few moments before he added, "General Arnott had forwarded the schedule that Cadet Brooke had came up with, reflecting your division of duties as well as your search of the castle, and I find it intriguing, Harry, that you found the time to romance the niece of one of my most trusted officers at the same time that I am expecting you to be doing your job."

"Sir, I..," Harry began.

Lord Alexander raised his hand and motioned for Harry to stop, and against that, the young naval cadet had no choice but to follow instructions. The moment that the mouth of Harry closed, that of Lord Alexander opened, "The schedule reflected that you are pulling your own weight, Harry, I have no complaints with that, and certainly no complaints had reached me that you are going over your scope of duties and abusing the power that has been granted to you for the duration of this deployment," he said.

"She was appointed liaison officer with us, Admiral," Harry replied, and when Lord Alexander raised his eyebrow toward him in question, Harry continued, "The Headmaster thought that it was a good idea if we have liaisons with the student body, just in case."

Lord Alexander looked thoughtful for a few moments, but then he nodded, "You realize that his goals since the disappearance of your family from the British Isles and the magical world had not changed?" he asked, "He still wants you and your parents to joint his faction."

"I suspect that that is the case, sir," Harry replied, "Nevertheless, I can assure you that it would not happen, the Potter family siding with those that had betrayed them in the past."

Lord Alexander smiled, "You are not Head of your Family yet, Harry, you cannot tell me that," he shook his head before he added with a broader smile, "Fortunately, I am happy that Lord James had said the same to me," he shook his head and the smile on his face disappeared, "What makes you think that Hermione Granger is not a tool of the Headmaster to entice you to remain in this backwater place?"

"Sir, she is the niece of one of your officers," Harry complained.

"She is also magical," Lord Alexander replied, "And not just any magical like yourself, she is a student of this school and, no doubt, had been influenced by the Headmaster and his ways, the danger remains," he shook his head before he added, "You actually suspect as much, hence, the reason that you had introduced her to me."

"The mind-reader reports her loyalty to the Golden Throne is not suspect, sir," Harry replied, instantly jumping to the defense of Hermione. He looked uncomfortable before he added, "There is also something about her…," he trailed off.

Lord Alexander shook his head, forcing Harry out of his reverie. The young naval cadet focused his attention toward his liege lord and watched as Lord Alexander said, "You have a mission to fulfill, Harry, and I need not remind you, I hope, of the importance of this operation."

"Yes sir," Harry replied, his face taking a more determined tone. For a few moments, silence descended in the interior of the command vehicle as the two men stared at each other. Harry broke that silence, "Sir," he said, "We have been patrolling the corridors with our wands out in an attempt to detect the item, we had been over the castle twice on all floors including the dungeons, and while we had detected numerous dark items that would probably require a truck or two to haul away, we are yet to even get a wisp of the item that we are searching for."

"It is well hidden, of course," Lord Alexander replied, "if it was not, things would not have been as interesting," and though he said that, it was obvious that the Prince was irritated, whether it was because of the lack of progress or if it was something else, Harry could not be sure.

An irritated sigh escaped from the lips of Lord Alexander and the Prince gave Harry a focused look, "We have Intelligence coming from within the castle," he said, "According to our intelligence, there is a room inside Hogwarts that is the perfect hiding spot in the castle, mostly because the room itself is hidden," he smiled as he stared at Harry, "I would expect that he hid it there."

"Sir, if its hidden…," Harry began.

Lord Alexander reached for a piece of paper that he had placed inside one of the pockets of the tailcoat that he was wearing and handed it to Harry, "Instructions, from intelligence," Lord Alexander replied, he smiled and shook his head, "The eggheads are prepared to bet that this is where the item is, and I had never heard intelligence say something as definitive as 'we are sure of this' before."

Truth to tell, neither had Harry, but he was a first year naval cadet, though if Lord Alexander says it is, then he has to take the word of the commander for it. Harry took the paper that Lord Alexander held for him.

The young naval cadet did not even look at the contents of the paper before he folded it neatly into quarters and tucked it into his pocket, "We would begin our search as soon as possible, sir," Harry said.

Lord Alexander nodded, "Not at least until Monday, though," the Prince replied with an amused smile, and at the questioning look on the face of Harry, the Prince added, "We are going to have a little celebration tonight, Harry, I imagine neither you nor your classmates would be up for much work tomorrow."

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

The young blonde aristocrat clutched the letter in his hand with a snarl on his face at the same time that his mind told him that this letter could not possible be the work of his father.

Draco Lucius Malfoy fought the urge to growl as he tossed the parchment where the latest letter that was purported to have come from his father was written into the burning fire. For a few moments, Draco watched as the flames consumed the parchment, but he turned his attention away from the slowly disappearing parchment before it could be fully transformed into ash.

'_Draco,'_ his father had written, '_I cannot emphasize this fact well enough, and I do hope that you would listen to this.'_

Normally, that phrase would mean that Draco would take to heart whatever it is that was written on the letter, but this time, it was something that the blond Slytherin Prince could not follow, it was an abhorrence and goes directly against everything his father had taught him since he was young.

'_Do not antagonize the newly arrived muggles at all,'_ his father had told him in response to his earlier query about what should be done against the muggles that are now polluting the school.

Personally, Draco does not see why his father was so afraid of them, so the young Slytherin postulated that the letter must not have came from his father, rather, it had came from some muggle-loving fool, possibly, the biggest muggle-loving fool who is in charge of this school, and it made sense too, seeing that the Headmaster appeared to be afraid of the newly arrived muggles.

A smile came across the face of Draco as he joined his waiting friends – '_though bodyguards would be a more apt term for some of them,'_ Draco thought – at the foyer of the common room. Dinner was going to be served in a few minutes, and if the Headmaster was trying to be a good host, then the muggles would be invited, and it was there where Draco plans to make his move.

He would show Hogwarts how muggles should be treated, and he would earn the respect of everyone in the castle – '_or at least, everyone that really matters,'_ Draco thought to himself with a smile.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

* * *

**SIX**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

Albus fought the urge to sigh as he watched the Prince and his staff leave his office. Lord Alexander did not even spare the Headmaster – or the rest of the staff of Hogwarts, for that matter – a second glance as he offered his hand to his fiancée. She took his offered hand without a word – but with a smile – and he helped her to his feet before they walked out of the room.

The interaction between the Prince of Scotland and the Marchioness of Montana convinced the Headmaster of the depth of the feelings that the two had for each other, but that was not the reason that the Prince had seen fit to send his forces to the school. The Headmaster suspected that there is a reason, but for the life of him, he could not even begin to guess what that reason was.

That sigh that the Headmaster had been holding finally escaped through his lips at the same time that the door to his office closed and the last member of the staff of Lord Alexander walked across the threshold dividing his office with the foyer that leads into his office.

That was the only time that the Headmaster had thought to look into the expressions on the faces of his senior staff and the other members of the teaching staff. The Heads of Houses – with the exemption of Severus, of course – held neutral looks on their faces, but one could not miss the look of worry that was etched upon their visage. Albus knew, however, that the three senior members of his staff could weather through their uncertainties and find their path toward the 'Greater Good'.

It was Severus whom the Headmaster was most worried about. He was sure that if he had not glared at the man while the Prince and his staff were here, Severus would have said something that everyone in the room – _'well, maybe not everyone,'_ the Headmaster thought to himself – would have regretted.

Of course, Albus had to consider the fact that the silent treatment that Lily was giving Severus has more to do with the impromptu silence that the Hogwarts Potions Master was forced in more than the glare that the Headmaster had given the man.

In fact, Albus could have sworn that the Potions Master had tried to go after Lily before the staff of the Prince could leave, but Lord and Lady Potter had left the office behind the Prince and the Marchioness, an indication that the two Potters are part of the Inner Circle of the Prince, and that they are amongst the most trusted of the Prince. A curious Albus wanted to find out how that happened, but he knew that it would be extremely hard to find someone whose lips are loose enough for a stranger to get information.

A good minute or two passed after the Prince and his staff had left before the silence that had descended within the office of the Headmaster – uncomfortable because everyone was waiting for someone else to break the silence – ended. It was Minerva who broke the silence, and she did so with a question that Albus knew he could not afford to answer, but at the same time, he could not ignore, "What secret mission is the Prince talking about, Albus?" she asked in a clipped accent that was an indication that the Scot was close to forgetting that she is speaking with people who would have a hard time dissecting her Gaelic.

The Headmaster turned to face Minerva and he _shrugged_, an action that caused not only Minerva, but also the rest of the teachers in the office – even Severus – to raise their eyebrows in surprise, and as he sat at his rather comfortable chair behind his rather impressive desk, Albus Dumbledore told himself that he could hardly blame them for the looks that they are giving him.

He had just admitted that he had allowed outsiders to go through Hogwarts with the proverbial comb to find something that the Headmaster himself was not sure what. Although Hogwarts was an open school – compared to the likes of Durmstrang Academy who prided itself with the fact that _no one_ could find their location, not even their own students – there are still those who were of the belief that not all the secrets of the school should be shared, especially with outsiders who could not even control magic.

Albus, however, suspected that most of the reason behind the indignation that was being displayed by his staff had something to do with the fact that they do not know what is going on. for all that Minerva and the other professors know, the patrols that Harry and his classmates had set up – after all, the professors and the prefects have caught the cadets patrolling the corridors of the school in two with their wands out, something that brought alarm to the minds of the professors – are mapping expeditions so that when the army moves in, the maze of corridors, rooms, and moving stairs of Hogwarts would not confuse them.

Not that the senior staff are planning on rebelling against the Golden Throne, for all that Albus knows, Minerva, Filius, and Pomona would be the first ones to kneel before the Prince and gives oaths of fealty, something that the professors knew the Prince could demand given the oath that they had all subscribed to before they were allowed to hold positions within the school.

Albus, on the other hand, was not required to give the oath before he became a professor at Hogwarts, but that was mostly because when he became a professor, the French Republic still existed and the Republic still controlled the British Isles. Albus was already Head of Gryffindor – before he became Headmaster – when the Holy Empire of Britannia landed her troops in Cornwall, Wales, and Ireland after they had defeated the French off Cape Finistere. His oath was given _after_ he became a professor, and as such, Albus believed that unlike his relatively younger counterparts, he could go over the oath.

A sly look was given by the Headmaster toward his staff. They were all looking at him, a variety of expressions written on their faces, and with a start, the Headmaster realized that most of his staff – even if given a chance to circumvent the oath – would not challenge the Golden Throne.

Of course, there is one amongst the senior staff who would dare the challenge, but as he turned his attention toward his potions master – still in shock, though whether it was because of the fact that Lily ignored him or because the Headmaster glared at him, Albus could not be sure – the Headmaster worried if he could truly ever count on Severus Snape.

The man would probably be the intellectual equal of Albus someday, that much, the Headmaster knew. In fact, in terms of potions theory and defense against the dark arts theory, Severus probably had already surpassed him, but his seeming contempt for the other subjects – transfiguration and charms the most – and the reason that he had joined the Death Eaters in the first place – leading to a unique situation for both him and the Headmaster – could count against his budding mind. The prejudice of Severus would limit him in his search for knowledge and the Headmaster was not sure if he could instruct the man _out_ of that dark place.

"Headmaster," the formal – cold and distant – voice of his Deputy Headmistress tore the Headmaster out of his reverie. He forced himself to return to the present and instantly wished that he was not as eager to do that as he was, because the moment that he returned to the presented, he was confronted by the sight of an angry Minerva glaring at him.

Minerva McGonagall was not a woman that even the Headmaster would dare cross on any regular day, but in days like these when she personified the angry mascot of her house, it was even more so. The self-declared Leader of the Light and one of the most powerful mages in the history of Magical Britain – possibly even the world – actually cringed at the sight of his deputy glaring at him, but even the glare of Minerva was not enough to prevent her from asking the question that Albus knew she wanted to ask, "Is what they are doing safe for our students?" she asked.

Albus wanted to reply in the negative even if he truly thinks that whatever it is that Harry Potter and his classmates are up to would not result to danger for the students. Mostly, the Headmaster wanted to see how Minerva would react to the Headmaster replying in the negative, and Albus had to admit that he was prepared to bet that the Deputy Headmistress would charge Harry – and his classmates – if Albus would answer in the negative.

The Headmaster declined to answer in the negative, however, because he was aware that doing so would not be good for his reputation. More importantly, while she and the Headmaster do not see eye to eye in many things, Minerva is still a powerful witch who is a member of the Order and the real administrative head of the school. If Minerva was gone – and charging ten cadets in the middle of an army would be a good way of making her disappear – then all that administrative work would fall on the shoulders of the Headmaster, thus, preventing him from paying attention to far more important pursuits.

"Well, Headmaster?" this time, it was Filius Flitwick who asked the question. Once more, Albus wondered how similar yet dissimilar the two most senior members of the teaching staff could be. Whatever it is that Minerva is championing, Filius would most likely be beside her in championing it. There are only a handful of instances in the past when the two head of houses had disagreements in policy or otherwise.

"I do not think that whatever it is that the naval cadets are up to would result to danger to our students," the Headmaster replied easily, using a tone of voice that the Headmaster expected would shoot down all other dissenting opinion, "Harry Potter and his classmates are members of the Imperial Navy, despite the fact that they are just cadets, they are bound to protect the citizens of the Holy Empire and our students – and ourselves – are citizens of the Holy Empire."

The Headmaster was sorely disappointed when he realized that there was a dissenting opinion amongst his staff, though it came not from the source that he was expecting. The sour-faced Potions Master of Hogwarts was finally torn out of his reverie by the last words that Albus had said, and the former Death Eater was not shy in voicing his opinion, "We should drive them out, Headmaster," he said, apparently unaware – or rather, uncaring – of the fact that even suggesting that would see him arrested, "We are far more powerful than them, we do not need them, even if what they are doing is supposed to protect the castle."

The shocked looks on the faces of the rest of the staff told the Headmaster what they thought of the suggestion of Severus Snape without the staff needing to voice their concerns. Minerva, however, looked ready to do so, if not for the Headmaster raising his hand and motioning for her to stop. Even then, Minerva looked ready to rebel against the command of the Headmaster, but in the end, she swallowed whatever it was that she wanted to say and inclined her head toward the Headmaster.

"Severus," the Headmaster said, forcing the potions master to turn his attention toward the Headmaster. Professor Snape saw the disapproving look on the face of the Headmaster, but he also saw the calculating face of the Headmaster and Professor Snape instantly realized that the Headmaster was planning something.

Exactly what that something is, the potions master does not know, but the fact that the Headmaster had seen fit to allow him to see told Severus that whatever it was that the Headmaster was planning, he was going to play a part in it. Hopeful that it would expel the muggles and the mudbloods from the school, Severus held his tongue and allowed a neutral expression to come across his face.

"I think that this ought to conclude our meeting for tonight, save for you, Severus, I want to speak with you," the Headmaster said, much to the shock of the staff who had expected the Headmaster to public dress down the potions master. The times when the Headmaster had publicly scolded Severus Snape – one of the youngest professors inside the castle – was few, far between, and could be counted on one hand with four fingers to spare. In fact, most of the staff believed that the Headmaster and the Potions Master are in a relationship, and given the particular preference of the Headmaster, that might not be too far off the mark.

Of course, that meant that whenever Severus and Albus are going to be alone in a room, most of the professors could not find an excuse to leave fast enough, and right now, they are just glad that the Headmaster had dismissed them because none of them are in any mood to think of a reason to leave.

Albus and Severus watched in relative silence as the other professors left the office. Only once everyone was out of earshot did the Potions master turn toward the Headmaster, but Albus was already one step ahead of his former student and was already staring at him. Quite frankly, the stare that the Headmaster was giving Severus scared the crap out of him.

"You know, they are of the opinion that we are in a romantic relationship," the Headmaster began. He noted that Severus actually stepped back despite the neutral expression on his face – no doubt brought about by his extra powerful set of mind shields – before the Headmaster laughed and said, "Don't worry, Severus, you're not my type."

The potions master looked at the Headmaster for a few moments – he actually thought about asking the Headmaster what his type was, but he decided that that was irrelevant to the reason that the Headmaster had asked for him here – before he nodded. He was going to remain silent until after the Headmaster had said the reason that he was not dismissed with the rest of the staff, but the silent treatment that the Headmaster gave him right after the last words that came out of his mouth unnerved Severus enough to be the one to break the silence.

"Headmaster," he began, "For what reason had you asked of me to stay behind?"

The Headmaster looked at his potions master for a few moments, and once more, silence descended between them. The Headmaster had to admit that he was being deliberate with the silent treatment because he wanted to see how long Severus could hold not speaking – and comparing it with how long he would not speak if it was Lily who was giving him the silent treatment – but barely thirty seconds had passed before the potions master started to show signs that he was getting agitated.

The Headmaster realized that the temper of his potions professor was about to run out, and with that in mind, he decided to break the silence, "I want your opinion on the matters that we are facing, Severus," he said.

Professor Snape sneered, "I do not think that there is a need for me to tell you of my opinion on the matter, sir," he replied, "I've made my opinions on the matter clear enough."

"Indeed you have," the Headmaster replied, and for theatrical purposes, he made himself sound disappointed, though he was sure that Severus had seen through the parlor tricks, after all, the man is an expert in legilimancy as much as he is in occulumency, and though the Potions Master could not break the shield of the Headmaster, he could, at least, tell the general feeling of the Headmaster.

"Mixing the muggles with our people would not result to anything good, sir," Professor Snape said, he turned his attention away from the Headmaster and toward the window in the office, one that – whether intentional or not on the part of the muggles, it does not matter – showed the Headmaster the impromptu camp site of the muggle army, "Already, they are encroaching upon our territory, you know that this would only lead to more problems for us."

The Headmaster fought the urge to sigh. He realized what his potions professor was trying to do with the very first sentence that came out of his mouth. Severus was rehashing the arguments that the original framers of the Statute of Secrecy had used in pushing for the statute. It was an old argument that, personally, the Headmaster thought was flimsy, but had worked on the governing body of magicals during their time. Evidently, Severus was of the opinion that it could still work, albeit on a different generation.

"We have sworn Oath, Severus," the Headmaster reminded his potions professor. It was the hope of the Headmaster that Severus would volunteer to do that which the Headmaster wanted him to do, instead of the Headmaster having to outright inform Severus that he wished for the potions master to re-examine the wording of the oath and try to find a loophole that they could exploit.

"The Oath says that we are to follow the Golden Throne, so long as certain conditions are met, Headmaster," Severus reminded the Headmaster. Personally, the Headmaster could not remember there being conditions, but before he could say that, Severus continued, "Magical Oaths are conditioned upon give and take, Headmaster, I could be wrong, but I am almost certain that in exchange for the oath, the muggles would leave us alone to govern our world, and this," – he motioned toward where the muggle army was encamped – "is a sign that they are encroaching upon our world, violating their oath."

"Why haven't they fallen dead, then?" the Headmaster asked as a test. He, of course, knew the reason why the muggles had not fallen dead, but he was not about to let his former student off the hook that easily.

"They're not magical, Headmaster," Severus replied easily, and because he was pacing, he missed the slight smile that appeared on the face of the Headmaster, a smile that appeared there because Severus got the answer in one.

"This requires further thinking, Severus," the Headmaster said, and in truth, it did require much thinking. For one thing, the Headmaster was not sure if he truly wishes to go against the wishes of the Empress of Britannia. That concern was probably least, however, because his most important concern was the accuracy of the arguments of Severus, it was something that the Headmaster would have to see for himself.

The scowl on the face of his potions master forced the Headmaster to return to the present, and before Professor Snape could say anything, the Headmaster said, "Develop on this further, if you could, Severus," he said, "but in the meantime, we should keep this in the backburner," a theatrical sigh – again, one that did not fool the potions master – escaped through the lips of the Headmaster before he added, "We need to consider all of our actions before we make them, Severus, as I had tried to teach you before numerous times."

The potions master glared at the Headmaster for a few moments. It was obvious that he wanted to say something in response to what the Headmaster had said, but at the same time that he opened his mouth to do so, he seemed to realize that it would be for the best if he were to keep his mouth shut, so that was what he did. Instead of pushing words out of his mouth, the potions master merely nodded.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

Harry and Hermione watched in silence Lord Alexander walked away before he turned toward her with a look that clearly said that he was sorry that he had to leave her. He gave the hand that he held on his own one final squeeze that told her that he would be back as soon as he could manage it before he – obviously reluctantly – allowed her hand to fall from his.

He did not look at her before he followed after his liege lord, but Hermione could understand that, since she also did not want to look at him as he left the tent where the two of them had been waiting since the welcome parade ended a few hours ago on their own. Hermione was sure that there would be a disappointed look on her face and that was something that she does not want Harry to see.

For a few moments, there was silence inside the tent. Hermione continued to stare at the flap of the tent that Harry and his liege lord had used and because of that, she failed to notice that while Lord Alexander and Harry have walked out of the tent, and while most of the staff members of Lord Alexander had also left, two people remained inside the room, in the form of the Count and Countess of Lisbourne.

James and Lily looked at each other for a few moments, a silent communication passed between the two of them during which time they informed the other that they could not believe that their son would introduce a girl to Lord Alexander – both believed that Harry would _after_ he graduates from the Academy, because essentially, what Harry just did was to inform the Prince that there is a chance that Hermione would someday stand beside him before an altar, one after all, does not introduce a girl to one's liege lord without consequences, whether intended to or not.

After a few moments – during which time, Hermione continued to stare at the flap of the tent – James gave his wife a shrug before he subtly shook his head. Lily shot James a look of incredulity for a few moments, but that look was quickly replaced with an amused smile, a smile that remained on her face as she watched her husband figuratively throw in the towel and walk out of the tent the same way that they had came in.

Once her husband was out of the tent, Lily returned her attention toward the young girl – '_no, young woman, she is going to take her OWL's this school year, and in the magical world, that was all that was needed to be considered an adult even if they don't emancipate them till they are seventeen,'_ Lily thought to herself, mentally scoffing at the absurdness of the magical system – and noted that she was still staring at the tent flap that Harry and Lord Alexander had used.

For a few moments, Lily wondered exactly how long Hermione – she remembered her name because Harry had introduced them this morning – would continue to stare at the flap, but because she knew that she does not have all the time in the world, Lily pointedly cleared her throat.

That was all that was needed to inform Hermione that she was not alone inside the tent, and the young woman turned her attention toward the source of the sound that had disturbed her melancholy only to find the smiling face of the mother of the person that she was being melancholic about staring at her. Hermione had the good grace to blush, but it only brought a smile to the face of Lily.

"You've been staring at that direction since they left," Lily began with a smile. Somehow, the smile on her face did nothing to assuage the growing sense of dread that was forming inside Hermione; on the contrary, it seemed to stroke it more.

Lily seemed to sense this, if the next words that came out of her mouth were to be of any indication, "Don't worry Hermione," the Potter matriarch said, "I won't bite you."

Hermione nodded in response at the same time that she found herself surprised that she was actually acting like a stuttering teenager, minus the stutters, of course. She had, after all, managed to out-speak almost all of her professors; yet, here is this one woman whom Hermione found so intimidating, she was reduced to merely nodding her head in response.

"Would you care to sit?" Lily asked as she took a seat. Hermione stared at her for a few moments before she nodded and resumed her seat, taking the exact seat where she and Harry had sat as they waited for the meeting with the Headmaster to end.

Once she was seated, Lily let out a smile of triumph before she pounced – figuratively – on the young woman that was seated beside her, "Tell me about yourself, Hermione," Lily said, a subtle command, perhaps, but a command nonetheless.

Hermione stared at Lily, unsure of what to say in response to the question that the Countess had asked. It was a question that she had not answered in so many years and one that had not been asked of her since she came into the magical world. Her actions – and her reputation – had always answered this question without the need for anyone to ask her the question directly, and therein lies her dilemma.

Exactly what should she tell Lily about herself?

As with everything, Lily seemed to sense the turmoil that was brewing inside the young woman seated beside her. In truth, Lily had asked the question as a way to break the ice that seemed to have descended between her and Hermione. It was, admittedly, a prologue to Lily asking leading questions that would allow the countess to ascertain exactly where the loyalty of Hermione lies.

Lily was well aware that a mind-reader had subtly looked into the mind of Hermione this afternoon, but that report would not be available for her until after Lord Alexander had seen it, and Lily sincerely doubts that her liege lord had asked for her son to discuss that report, at least, not in its entirety.

"I don't know what to say," Hermione said a few moments later, an action that forced Lily out of her reverie. Now firmly in the present, Lily stared at Hermione for a few moments, though before Lily could say anything, Hermione continued, "I've always let my reputation answer that question for me."

Lily would not say it, but she was well aware of the reputation of Hermione, and unlike most of the classmates of Hermione, Lily had access to the muggle files of Hermione, or at least, those parts of it that were not classified as part of the National Security Act. The files of the young woman that was seated beside Lily had been placed under the umbrella of the National Security Act because her father was part of the Imperial Navy.

Lily, however, decided to focus on the reputation of Hermione as a student. The Countess knew that Hermione is the top student of her year, with a weighted average that was a good eight points higher than the weighted average of the number two of her year – strangely, a Slytherin named Daphne Greengrass. Lily also knew that Hermione had a contradicting reputation amongst the different groups within the school.

Her year mates and upperclassmen view her as a pain and unapproachable, but the younger ones – specially the first years – view her as very approachable and always ready to help, or at least, until after those people had been corrupted by the upper-class who spin tales about Hermione. It was little wonder that while Hermione has a lot of casual acquaintances in the school, she has very few – if any – friends amongst the rank and file of students.

As for the professors, they all like Hermione, but most of them are intimidated by the muggle-born student who already looked dead set to best them at their own game. Lily had it in good authority that Hermione is already performing transfiguration and charm work that was equal – if not superior – to that of Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick, the transfiguration mistress and the charms master of Hogwarts respectively. It was these same two professors who are full of praise for the young muggle-born.

A small smile graced the face of Lily at that when she finally realized who the person that Hermione reminded her of. With her academic record, her tenacity, and the fact that she prefers to help the younger students rather than her own classmates, Lily realized that Hermione Granger reminded her of herself.

That small smile on the face of Lily broadened as she realized that she had to add one more thing about Hermione that reminded Lily of herself, _'the fact that she is attracted to a Potter,'_ the Countess mused to herself.

"You are probably well aware of my reputation, already," Hermione said a few moments later. Her tone was neutral, as if she could not decide if Lily would find her reputation as a count against her or a count for her. Quite frankly, Lily does not care, so long as her son is happy, and the Countess would be the first to admit that Harry appears to be happy whenever he is with Hermione, or at least, as far as she could see. Lily knew that he would have to talk to Harry about his later, but for now, she is going to reserve judging Hermione based on her reputation, after all, as a lawyer, that is not her job.

"Indeed, I am," Lily replied a few moments later. An uncomfortable silence descended between the two, but that silence was quickly broken by Lily, "Tell me about your family, Hermione," she said, "I find it curious that while your uncle – Admiral Richard Granger – continued his career with the navy, your father opted not to."

Hermione blinked, "I'm sorry, do you not have the records for that?" she asked curiously. It was not meant to be an offhanded comment to signify that she does not want to talk about that, it was an honest question, despite the way that it was delivered, and Lily knew that.

"I don't," the Countess replied truthfully, and before Hermione could say anything, Lily continued, "I am still a civilian, as is my husband, your father's service files are only available to members of the military," she grinned before she asked, "Are you aware that he was with Special Forces? After all, that is the only logical explanation why his file was sealed."

Hermione shook her head, "My mother told me that he was with the Imperial Navy before they met, not what he did there," the young woman replied, "I'm sorry, I can't,"

"That's alright," Lily replied, she paused for a few moments before she asked, "Tell me about your plans for the future."

Hermione blinked, "My Lady, I..," Hermione began.

Lily cut her off, "I'm not asking because I want to see if you and my son could have a connection," she shook her head for emphasis and added, "Quite frankly, Hermione, I think you and Harry have a connection, one that you are both aware exists yet refuse to act upon," Hermione looked ready to protest, but before the younger woman could open her mouth, Lily motioned for her to stand down, "I think it's good that the two of you are not acting like love struck teenagers that we both know the two of you are capable of being, because quite frankly, we are not sure what that connection between you and Harry is, it could be nothing more but a connection of friendship, or it could be something else" – Lily smiled, she remembered _exactly_ the feeling that she is sure both her son and Hermione are experiencing right now, and with that, the Countess realized that there is another thing that she and Hermione shared.

"I…," Hermione began, momentarily mentally cursing herself for having failed to come up with something better than the stutter that came out of her mouth.

Lily once more motioned for Hermione to allow her to speak, and the younger woman had no choice – mostly because she could not think of anything to say – but to allow Lily to proceed, "I asked about your future plans because I want to know if you are aware of the roads that are open to you after you graduate."

"I don't understand," Hermione began.

"The discrimination today is no longer as bad as it was when I graduated Hogwarts, Hermione," Lily replied by way of explanation, a sigh escaped through the lips of the Countess of Lisbourne and she elaborated, "There was a time when even the best student from Hogwarts – Head Girl, highest NEWT's score in more than a hundred years, and all that – could not even get a post in the Ministry higher than a secretary to a man who barely passed his OWL's because she was born in the wrong side of the tracks."

Hermione blinked as she instantly realized who the person Lily was talking about was, but before she could say anything, Lily continued, "It didn't really matter to me anyway, I married the man of my dreams and had my family," he actually smiled before she continued, "Having Voldemort come after us was terrifying, but was probably the best thing that had happened to our lives, after all, we left the magical world and entered the non-magical world thanks to him."

Hermione looked surprised at that statement, something that Lily, admittedly, had expected. The smile on the face of Lily broadened before she said, "I would not be Countess of Lisbourne if I had not entered the non-magical world, I would not have finished my degree in English or law," – here, Hermione gasped, and Lily knew it was because the younger girl had not thought that it was possible for a magical educated in the magical world to be able to continue non-magical education, though as things stand, in _this_ magical world, it is impossible – "and I most certainly would not be alive."

"Tell me, how do they say we killed the 'greatest, most powerful, and most terrible Dark Lord to ever walk the face of the earth'?" Lily asked, the humor in his voice evident, and all that Hermione needed to hear in order to realize that Lily – and Hermione suspected, Lord James as well, possibly even Harry – was amused by the title that was given to Voldemort. It was something that Hermione agreed with, though it was something that she dare not voice out loud.

"The official historical account says that you defeated him with ancient and powerful magic based on love and sacrifice," Hermione replied, "A love-based ritual that drove the soul of You-Know-Who from his body and turned his physical body into ash."

"No explanation at all? No details about the ritual?" Lily asked with a smile that told Hermione that the older woman was having fun. For the life of Hermione, though, she could not see why Lily was having so much fun with this.

Hermione shook her head, "None, the details are completely glossed over," she replied, "I suppose it was to prevent everyone else from doing it, but then again, I would have included the details since it's supposed to be a light based ritual of protection."

Lily smiled, "Hermione, I know that you've been taking up runes, so answer this, how long would it take for me to carve a simple rune in a marble tile, at the same time that we are under attack?" she asked.

"Probably a minute, certainly no less than that," Hermione replied instantly, "but you could have prepared the rune even before he arrived," Hermione pointed out.

"I suppose I could have," Lily replied, but she shook her head and pointed out, "We were in hiding though, and we are behind powerful wards, we did not expect Voldemort to be able to find us," she shook her head once more, "The truth of the matter is, Hermione, James killed Voldemort with a simple bullet to the head."

"But the reports…," Hermione began, though she stopped herself as she realized that the reporters who had made the report and whose accounts had made it into the official history books were not there when the event occurred. She was speaking with a person who was not only there when it happened, she is the reason that it happened.

This narration also told Hermione the reason that James and Lily had fled the magical world right after they had defeated the Dark Lord. Hermione was aware that it was highly illegal for a magical to kill another with a muggle weapon, it was the law now, it was the law then – though personally, Hermione saw little sense in it – and despite the fact that they had killed the dark lord and ended his reign of terror, Hermione realized that the Ministry would have counted the fact that James had used a gun against the Potter family.

"I won't bore you with the details of how we came to serve the Duke of New York," Lily said, she smiled before she added in response to the confused look on the face of Hermione, "Lord Alexander was just Duke of New York when we first came over to the non-magical world."

"Why are you telling me this?" Hermione asked a few moments later, genuine curiosity in her eyes.

Lily sighed, "You could take the path that I've taken Hermione," Lily replied, "I admit, Her Grace, the Marchioness had asked me to look for people within Hogwarts that we could possibly recruit, and your name came up at the top of the list," she smiled and added, "the fact that you and my son have a connection has nothing to do with this," she assured him.

Hermione paused for a few moments and realized that she was weighing her choices. The smart young woman could not deny what she wants to do – the moment that Lily told her about the fact that she had gone through university and had earned a degree, Hermione would have turned green with envy if she could – but she needs to be sure, "Can I," she began, she turned her attention toward Lily and asked, "Can I think about it?"

Lily smiled at her, "Of course you can," she replied, sounding positively ecstatic that that was the option that Hermione had chosen, but before Hermione could ask for the reason, Lily volunteered it, "The way that the magical world operates right now, Hermione, it is expected of you to not think, after all, why else would they force structured spells and wand movements when it is possible to perform magic without resorting to them?"

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

The Great Hall of Hogwarts was in a festive mood, even if a full third of the students that are currently inside the Great Hall looked as if they had swallowed a bug whole.

The traditional colors of the Four Houses of Hogwarts that hung from the pillars that supported the ceiling of the Great Hall – and its world famous view of the outside sky – had been replaced by the colors of the Holy Empire of Britannia. Every pillar in the Great Hall sported at least two of the flags, and behind the long table that serves as the table for the professors, a giant Britannian flag had been raised by the Britannian sailors that had accompanied the mission.

Seated at his usual position at the center of the table reserved for the professors, the Headmaster tried to present a jovial mood for the students, but deep inside, the Headmaster was worried. The muggle-born students under his care appear to be ecstatic with the presence of the Imperial Army, and the Prince of Scotland, while quite a few of the half-bloods were with them. The rest of the student population appears to be barely keeping their contempt in control.

For a few moments, the Headmaster wondered if the Prince of Scotland was aware that his appearance had polarized the students of Hogwarts, before he belatedly realized that with the intelligence of the man – there are rumors that the Empress would have Lord Alexander succeed her because of that intelligence – Lord Alexander is surely aware of what his presence is doing for the children.

The sound of laughter that came from a muggle-born group within the Hufflepuff table tore the Headmaster out of his reverie, but it was not toward the Hufflepuff table that the Headmaster had turned his attention; rather, it was toward the table right next to the Hufflepuff table, the Slytherin table.

As the Headmaster had expected, several of the students seated at that table looked at the celebrating Huffepuffs with barely disguised contempt, and the Headmaster visibly fought the urge to sigh. The situation inside the school was so bad right now; the Headmaster was expecting a brawl to erupt at any time. The Headmaster wondered if that was the reason that the army had been sent here – after all, with disturbances like that, an excuse to send in the soldiers could be easily found – but easily dismissed it, not because it was unlikely, but because there was nothing that he could do about it anyway.

The Headmaster turned his attention toward his potions professor with the intention of gauging exactly what Professor Snape felt at that moment, had it not been for a group of Slytherin students suddenly entering the Great Hall. That would not have been unusual, had it not been for the saunter that Draco Malfoy and his group of Slytherins had entered.

Albus may have problems with the son of Lucius Malfoy but he could not deny the leadership ability of the young blond. In less than a year, Draco had united his classmates under his banner and was well on his way to uniting his whole house by his second year, had it not been for an unfortunate incident that nearly saw the boy shunned by the whole school. Nowadays, while unable to command the respect that he truly craved, the boy still has the support of his Slytherin classmates.

Draco walked into the hall as if he owned it, and in his mind, Albus was sure that the boy was of the opinion that his family owns the Great Hall. A part of the mind of the Headmaster wondered what would happen should the Malfoy heir directly challenge the Prince of Scotland, but the greater part of the mind of the Headmaster prayed that that would not happen, because if it did, the Headmaster was sure that things would turn out for the worst.

Unfortunately for the Headmaster, that was exactly what happened.

A mere ten seconds after Draco walked into the Hall – and while the boy and his group was still making their way to their table – every muggle-born inside the room stood. At first, the Headmaster thought that it was a prank, then it was in response to some unseen signal, and in less than a second, the Headmaster was proven right.

Lord Alexander walked into the Great Hall arm in arm with his fiancée who was laughing at something that the Prince had said. Behind the Duke, his principal advisors followed, dressed in their most formal, but all of his military staff – including some people whom the Headmaster had not met before – are armed, and as if that was not insult enough, they are armed with firearms.

As the Prince and his contingent walked into their position – their table was placed behind the table of the professors and in a higher dais, reflecting the fact that the Prince is higher than the Headmaster who could not even complain because Hogwarts herself placed the table there – the Headmaster realized that he had forgotten that Draco Malfoy and his friends are still standing.

The Headmaster – indeed, most of his staff who realized that the Malfoy boy was still standing – turned their attention toward the direction of Lord Alexander at the same time that they found themselves praying that Draco Malfoy would not cause an incident. Their prayers were in vain.

With a saunter, Draco walked toward the Prince of Scotland – he was stupid enough to actually abandon his bodyguards – until he stood in front of the Prince. The taller prince stared at the fifteen year old with an expression on his face that was half-amused, half-uncaring, and seemed to convey the message to everyone – everyone not named Draco Malfoy that is – that the Prince does not really care about the person that had just intercepted him.

"I'm not sure how it works your world, but in our world, its illegal to carry guns," Draco replied, his tone suggesting that he was lecturing a muggle who does not know anything about the magical world.

If the Headmaster did not think that it would demean his reputation, he would have smacked himself on the face the moment that the Slytherin prince opened his mouth. As it stands, the Headmaster knew that he could not afford to remove his attention from Draco Malfoy because if he did, then the boy might suddenly disappear.

The Prince, however, merely smiled at the boy – and the smile was so devoid of contempt and warmth that it was impossible for anyone to misinterpret it as anything but contempt – before he said, "I would remember that the next time that I meet with parliament," before he turned his attention away from the boy and resumed his walk toward his position.

The Headmaster let out a sigh of relief – and if he was being honest with himself, he knew that he was not the only one – as the Prince started to walk away from the Slytherin prince, obviously of the opinion that the confrontation was over.

Draco, however, was not one to back away from things, and unfortunately for him, while his charisma was undeniable, so was his temper, and with the perceived insult – the fact that Lord Alexander showed his back to him – was more than his ego could take. Without really thinking about it, he quickly drew his wand. His quick motion, however, was not as quick as he liked to think, because his friend and bodyguard – Gregory Goyle – actually managed to draw his wand faster than Draco.

Without direction from his boss, the young Slytherin – who was probably dead last in his year – pointed his wand toward the direction of Lady Emma – probably because he thought that Draco had his wand aimed at the Prince – and was about to fire a curse – exactly what the curse is would be hard to ascertain – when James Potter – who was keeping watch – jumped into the fray.

Lord James saw that the intended target of the confirmed threat was Lady Emma so he threw himself toward her, not with the intention of shielding her from whatever curse it was that the threat wanted to throw at the back of the Marchioness, but rather, to move her out of the line. It was the sensible choice because Lord James stood at the right side of Lady Emma while Lord Alexander was at her left. His move caused him to crash into both Lord Alexander and Lady Emma, forcing the two into the floor at the same time that a green bolt of light erupted from the business end of the wand of Gregory Goyle.

Exactly what the curse was, however, would not be known because a second or two after the move of Lord James, Vice Admiral Cline had drawn his service sidearm and had it aimed. With calmness that could only be brought about by years of training – Vice Admiral Cline is a qualified naval sniper – the chief of staff of Lord Alexander pulled the trigger, sending a single bullet flying off the barrel of his pistol. It took less than two seconds – with the distances involved – before the bullet tore a neat hole in the forehead of Gregory Goyle, but the unfortunate did not have the time – or the inclination really – to comment on how perfect the whole on his forehead was, he was long gone by the time his body hit the floor.

A shocked silence descended along the ranks within the Great Hall, but it was the Headmaster who first recovered. Shocked and angry, the Headmaster started to reach for his wand – and using his peripheral vision – he saw the Professor Snape was just behind him in doing so, but before either man could truly pull their wands out of their sleeves, the whole of the Great Hall was flooded as men wearing camouflage and totting rifles flooded into the room, their weapons pointed toward the direction of the staff table. The fact that there are close to fifteen hundred children between their position and their targets did not even cross their minds.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **I do not own Harry Potter or anything associated with it.

* * *

**SEVEN**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

The sound of the pistol being fired echoed around the four corners of the Great Hall, and for a few moments, there was no other sound that reverberated around the room but the sound of the gun having been fired.

The loud bang seemed to have drowned out the sickly sound of the heavy body of Gregory Goyle hitting the floor, and very few – if there were indeed those who did – heard the sound of a mass hitting a liquid as the earthly remains of a young student hit a pool of his own blood.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of sounds as what had happened finally registered in the minds of those who were watching. The party of the prince – having been aware of what was happening, even if only vaguely – was the first to recover. Lord Alexander turned his attention toward his chief-of-staff at the same time that the second collective within the Great Hall realized what had just happened.

Almost as quick as lightning, Headmaster Dumbledore shot to his feet, his face an enraged mask as he realized that one of the students that was supposed to be under his care had been killed – so effortlessly, if a bit messier than he is used to – in front of his eyes. His legendary wand shot to his hand at the same time that he stood, and at the same time that his Deputy Headmistress took to her own feet.

Minerva McGonagall might not like Gregory Goyle that much – and she was a supporter of the Royal Party if only just – but it was still part of her duties and responsibilities to see to the safety of the students under her care. That one of them had been killed under her watch – indeed, in front of her – galvanized her into action.

The third group to realize what had happened was one of the largest groups within the Great Hall, and the moment that they realized what had happened, they were enraged, though that was hardly surprising considering that the now dead boy was – even if they had wished otherwise – their classmate.

Almost as one, the students who occupied the Slytherin table shot to their feet, their wands already on their hands. Their Head of House – who was at the Staff table in front of the Great Hall – was just a moment or two slower than his house, but Severus Sanpe was faster than his students in aiming his wand at the direction of the Royal Party.

A curse was about to pass through the lips of the potions master as he gathered his power, but before he could do so, he suddenly had to drop his wand as the wood suddenly became impossibly hot for him to hold in his hands.

For a few moments, he thought that it had something o do with his power – after all, he was so enraged, and it had been proven that being in rage helps double the power of a magical person, and such increase is reflected upon the temperature of the wand, the more powerful a person is, the higher the temperature of the wand becomes as it is forced to take in the excess power in the form of heat – but he was forced to renew his opinion when the yelps of pain started to come from his house table.

Both the potions master and the headmaster turned their attention toward the newest source of noise within the Great Hall, and saw what was happening. Their reactions could not have been any different from each other.

The potions master sneered at the sight of his Slytherin students dropping their wands as they became too hot for their hands. Clearly, Severus was of the opinion that the righteous anger of his students at witnessing the murder of their classmate was proving a catalyst, and they are throwing power around, hence, the reason why their wands are becoming hot.

The Headmaster, however, realized what was happening at the sight of so many borderline squibs – he would not admit it in front of anyone, not even his most trusted Severus Snape who was head of Slytherin, that the snakes have the lowest average magical index in the school – dropping their wands. He may have formed the same opinion as his potions master if they are watching the Gryffindors, the Ravenclaws, or the Hufflepuffs – the last of whom have, surprisingly, the highest average magical index in the school – but not the borderline squibs.

The fact that Albus himself had to drop his legendary Elder Wand as it became hot seem to make up the mind of the Headmaster as to what was happening, and the realization of it caused the already pale Headmaster – after witnessing the murder of one of his students – to pale even further.

A huff of wind that seems to have come from nowhere blew into the Great Hall of Hogwarts, but there are those who did not feel the wind. Specifically, those who had not shot to their feet in reaction to what had happened did not feel the powerful gust that came out of nowhere. For those who had shot to their feet, however, the gust was as powerful as the winds of a category five storm – not that many of those who are actually standing up could have known what that meant.

The powerful wind caused the knees of the Headmaster to buckle as he felt the power that marinated the very essence of the mysterious wind. Still, Albus Dumbledore remained on his feet even as the students of Slytherin were – one by one – forced back to their seats, despite the fact that most of them are actually resisting, if the looks on their faces were to be of any indication.

Severus was quickly forced into his seat a few moments later, and Minerva followed at the same time that the last of the Slytherin students lost their battle with the wind and was forced back to their seats. The Headmaster retained his footing for a good twenty seconds after his Deputy was forced to submit, but eventually, even the self-declared Leader of the Light had to submit to this power.

As for the students who were with Gregory Goyle, the fact that they were away from their seats did not spare them from the wind. In fact, the wind humbled them further as they were forced on their knees. The fact that the dead body of their classmate was still where it had fallen served as a reminder of their further humility.

Unable to provide an explanation that would satisfy him – at least to himself – as to the source of the wind that had forced them back to a position of relative helplessness, the Headmaster seethed. He turned his attention toward the royal party, and his anger intensified when he realized that not only was the Prince and his party unaffected by the wind, the look on their faces seemed to convey the fact that the prince expected the wind to come.

Suddenly, the eyes of the Headmaster widened at the implication. If the Prince was aware that the wind was coming, then it stands to reason that it was the prince who had summoned the wind in the first place. The prince, as far as Dumbledore was aware, was not magical, and though there are those who are magical amongst his party – James and Lily notwithstanding – the Headmaster was sure that none of those have summoned the wind.

That only left one logical explanation and it tied in with what the Headmaster had seen a few moments before the wind forced him to submit. Lord Alexander might not be magical, but he was of royal blood and because he was of royal blood, he has command of something far more powerful than the magic of the professors of Hogwarts – Dumbledore included – combined. The Prince had the power to invoke the oath.

As if that was not humiliating and humbling enough, a few moments later, the doors of the Great Hall burst open as muggle soldiers flooded the room, their assault rifles pointed toward the students and the professors as they formed a semi circle around their prince and his party. The grim looks on the faces of the soldiers told the Headmaster that while what they would do would cause them nightmares in the evenings to come, they would still do it in order to protect their prince.

The Headmaster tried to open his mouth and reassert his authority, but the same power that caused him to helplessness was still working its magic on him. He might be able to open his mouth, but no words came out of them no matter how hard he tried, and it took him less than five tries to realize that he was powerless and he may soon witness the massacre of his students.

Fortunately for him, Lord Alexander did not have that in mind. The Prince studied the fallen body of Gregory Goyle for a few moments before he turned his attention toward the soldiers that had flooded the room, "Stand down," he ordered in a sure voice, and though there were looks of hesitation and doubt amongst some of the soldiers, they followed the order, lowering their rifles and considerably lessening the tension within the Great Hall.

If the Headmaster had expected the Prince to turn his attention toward him after giving the command to his soldiers – to apologize for what had happened – he was sorely disappointed as the Prince turned his attention toward his chief-of-staff.

Vice Admiral Cline still held his service pistol on his hand and though the barrel was no longer smoking, the fact that it was out of its holster was a message directed toward everyone inside the Great Hall, Vice Admiral Cline is ready to use his pistol once more, and this time, he would not be alone as he is now joined by the muggle soldiers who had flooded the Great Hall.

"Stand down, Vice Admiral Cline," Lord Alexander ordered. Vice Admiral Cline did not show any external sign of having heard his commander, but the older man holstered his weapon, though he did it in such a way that it conveyed the fact that he would draw if needed, and that he does not trust anyone in the Great Hall that does not wear the flag of the Holy Empire on his shoulder.

"It seems that I owe you another lifetime, Lord James," Lord Alexander said as he extended his hand toward Lord James. The Viscount accepted the offered hand of the Prince and was helped to his feet by the man who had offered his hand, "And my Lady Emma, as well."

Lady Emma was helped to her feet by Lily. The Marchioness gave a nod of thanks to Lily before she gave Lord James a smile indicating that she agreed with what her betrothed had said, though that was hardly surprising as there had never been – not a one – instance where Lady Emma had publically disagreed with Lord Alexander.

Lord James merely inclined his head toward Lord Alexander in response to what the Prince had said, and everyone in attendance – at least those who are with the prince and are familiar with how the Prince runs his staff – knew that that was an indication that the Prince and Lord James would speak about this later. Right now, the more important thing was to take charge of the situation.

Lord Alexander turned toward Harry and said, "Take these into custody, Cadet," he ordered, using a tone of voice that conveyed to everyone in the Great Hall that Lord Alexander was not amused by what had happened.

That was hardly surprising considering what had happened, "Could you identify the spell fired from the wand by the deceased?" he asked.

"It was the killing curse, my Lord," Harry replied without hesitation, and despite the effect of the oath on a quarter of the student population – and quite a lot of the staff – there were gasps of surprises that came from the student population. Harry, however, ignored them, despite the fact that Hermione was amongst those who had been surprised, "And I think it was powerful as well."

Harry prayed that he does not have to tell his liege lord that the effect of the killing curse was directly related to the power used by the caster.

A grim mask was suddenly over the face of Lord Alexander. The prince turned toward his fiancée and seemed to regard her with concerned eyes. Lady Emma merely smiled back toward the man that she would someday marry – her liege lord among other things – to indicate that she was fine, but from the look that Lord Alexander was giving her, it was obvious that he is not going to take only her word for it. Harry realized that Lord Alexander would subject her fiancé to an intense examination tonight.

"My Lord," the voice of one of Lord Alexander's senior staff member cut through the uncomfortable silence that had descended across the Great Hall after the announcement of Harry that a killing curse had been fired toward the back of a high ranking noble of the Holy Empire.

Both Lord Alexander and Harry turned their attention toward the speaker and saw the bespectacled and relatively young face of Rear Admiral Daniel William 'Ash' Ashford, the chief military advisor of Lord Alexander.

"My Lord," Rear Admiral Ashford repeated, "This is an assassination attempt, I urge you to take control of the school and take the would-be assassins into custody."

"I agree, My Lord," Vice Admiral Cline added, speaking for the first time since he had shot and killed Gregory Goyle, "The fact that the deceased attempted to confront us with this group tells me that this is a conspiracy and in addition to the suggestions of Rear Admiral Ashford, I suggest that you order the formation of an investigative committee to look for further conspirators, if, indeed, they exist," and as he said that, the gaze of the Vice Admiral turned toward the staff table where the staff cringed at the insinuation that the Vice Admiral was providing.

The Headmaster would have howled in outrage at the suggestions of Rear Admiral Ashford, but the suggestions of Vice Admiral Cline left him wanting to jump from his seat and challenge the man to a duel. Unfortunately for him, he might have mustered enough rage to actually stand once more, he does not have enough to actually overpower his oath. The gale that had forced him to submit returned in full force and the Headmaster was once more forced to resume his seat as the pressure mounted beyond what he could resist.

"We shall see," Lord Alexander promised. Harry noted that even as he said that to reply to the suggestions of his subordinates, he had not taken his eyes off of Lady Emma. The concern was still there despite the unspoken assurances that the Marchioness was giving him.

The Prince walked slowly – his every gait displaying every measure of the power that he held at that moment as _everyone_ in the room was forced to turn their attention toward him – toward his fiancé. The look of neutrality on the face of Lady Emma caused concern for many of those who was inside the Hall as they realized at that moment that their ultimate fates depend upon this woman whom the man who had invoked the Oath against them was walking toward.

They might never have met the Marchioness before, but those who realize the power that she has over Lord Alexander are now praying that she would be merciful toward them.

"Are you alright?" the Prince asked, the concern on his face evident, and as both Harry and Hermione watched the Prince and the look on his face, both – unknowingly and unconsciously – had the exact same thought, '_I wish he/she would someday look at me like that'._

For her reply, the Marchioness smiled at her prince, "Yes," she replied simply, but the reaction to her reply was anything but simple. The assembled faculty and the very few students who are aware of the reason behind their sudden incapacity held their bated breath, for the simple answer of the Marchioness – completely devoid of anything that those assembled could use – did nothing to either lower or increase their fear of what Lord Alexander might do next.

Seemingly unaware of the tension in the hall – unlikely given the way that the Prince was raised – Lord Alexander focused his gaze upon Lady Emma for close to two minutes. Harry knew from personal experience that having Lord Alexander stare at a person for just two seconds could cause any person to fidget or even to turn away their attention from him, but Lady Emma kept her gaze upon the man that she would someday marry.

After a seemingly long time, Lord Alexander removed his gaze from his fiancé. Vice Admiral Cline and Rear Admiral Ashford did not have look of irritations on their faces when Lord Alexander turned his attention toward them, though Harry knew that that was mostly because both men knew that the Prince would do what he had done even before the Prince had done it. The two men had served Lord Alexander for a considerable time and both are aware of how the Prince does things.

"This certainly was unexpected," Lord Alexander said, and though the intended recipient of the words that came out of the mouth of the Prince were four people – Vice Admiral Cline, Rear Admiral Ashford, Headmaster Dumbledore, and Harry – everyone in the hall cringed at the voice of the Prince. To them, it felt as if the man who is widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful men in the Holy Empire – though only a few inside the Hall knew that for certain – was about to invoke the most dreaded article in the Oath.

Matters were not helped when instead of turning his attention toward the Headmaster to come to some kind of solution, Lord Alexander instead turned his attention toward the kneeling attackers in front of him.

Both Harry and Hermione watched in silence as Lord Alexander regarded the Slytherin students in front of him. Hermione knew that it was an incredibly humbling experience for the five students who are still alive and kneeling in front of the Duke, for these five students, she knew from bitter experience, are the worst of the blood bigots. That they found themselves kneeling in front of a man that they profess to be inferior to them must have hurt not only their knees but also their pride.

"What should I do with you?" Lord Alexander mused as he stared at his attackers, completely unaware that behind him, the Headmaster was struggling to get to his feet in order to make his opinion know, though in this endeavor, he was not even the slightest bit successful.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

Potions Master Severus Snape could hardly believe his eyes as he watched the Headmaster slump into his office before falling into his rather impressive – and if Severus would be forced to admit, comfortable, since he had sat there before – chair behind his even more impressive ornate desk.

The potions master was well aware that the Headmaster had just came from a meeting between himself and the prince in order to discuss what they would do with the Slytherin students who were caught in the act of trying to assassinate the prince. Severus had kicked and screamed in order to be allowed into the meeting – arguing that as the Head of House of Slytherin, he should be there to represent the interest of his students – until the chief-of-staff of Lord Alexander pointed out that since Severus is the Head of House, any punishment that should be given to the attackers should also be given to the Head of House.

The Potions Master might be a former Death Eater and a member of the pureblood supremacy movement, but he was also a half-blood, and more importantly, he has an innate sixth sense when it comes to evading responsibility and covering his ass. That was exactly what he did with the situation, and despite the fact that he really wanted nothing more but to be in the meeting, his sense of self-protection kicked in and he made himself wait in the office of the Headmaster.

Judging from the tired look on the face of the Headmaster, Severus realized that he should count himself lucky that he was not included in that meeting, and he involuntarily shuddered as he imagined exactly what happened that caused the Headmaster to look haggard. Of course, he truly would not count himself out of the fire until the Headmaster could confirm that he is not going to be included in the aftermath of the failed attempt.

A brief movement of the finger of the Headmaster caught Severus by surprise, and the man actually cringed even if it was obvious that whatever spell it was that the Headmaster had invoked was not meant for him. A glass shot out from the cabinet of the Headmaster at the same time that an unopened bottle of firewhiskey appeared on the desk of the man who was considered as one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – man in the whole of the magical world.

Without saying anything, the Headmaster poured himself a shot glass full of the foul smelling liquid and the Headmaster – displaying constitution absent from a muggle his age, considering that_ all_ muggles would be dead by the time they reach his age – not only managed to empty the glass in one gulp, he managed to keep the liquid in without throwing up.

"Headmaster?" Severus asked cautiously. The Potions Master was not even sure of the Headmaster could actually see him as he sat in front of the old man who looked as if he wanted to do nothing more but to drown himself in drink.

For a few moments, the Headmaster showed no sign that he had even heard his potions master, but since Severus was not going to try again – he figured that once is more than enough – the Headmaster finally turned his attention toward the one of the men that he had directly saved during the war.

Fighting back the urge to pour himself another drink, Albus turned his attention toward Severus and indicated that the potions master should be the first one to start with a questioning look on his face.

Severus disliked being the first one to start, but he figured that in this case, there was no choice, though he did subconsciously note that he would be in very, very hot water if he starts this conversation in the wrong way.

Ultimately, however, Severus knew that he had no choice but to begin the conversation in such a way that even the potions master knew would land him in hot water, "So," the potions master began, "How did it go?"

Albus Dumbledore actually cringed at just being reminded of what had happened, and a worried Severus Snape realized that that meant that the meeting had not gone well for the Headmaster. For a brief few moments, the potions master wondered if he could still escape from the Office of the Headmaster and from Hogwarts, but as he continued to sit at his seat and wait for the Headmaster to reply, the potions master realized that for now, Hogwarts was the best place for him.

Severus had no illusions regarding his safety out there. He might not be hunted by his former comrades – he had somehow convinced them that he had turned spy at the instructions of their Dark Lord – but the fact remains that his former students would like to hunt him down, and there is no telling what the Prince had told the Headmaster regarding the situation and circumstance of one Severus Snape, not, at least, if he were to flee the school.

Finally, the Headmaster returned to the present. Aware of the most pressing concern of the man that was now seated in front of him, the Headmaster decided to address the unasked question of his potions master first. In any case, Albus knew that if he were to answer the unasked question of Severus first, the potions master would be more susceptible to some suggestions, especially if the Headmaster would play his words right.

"I had managed to convince His Grace that you had nothing to do with the incident," Dumbledore said, though the glare that he gave his potions master told Severus that despite the words that had came out of the mouth of the Headmaster, the Headmaster was of the opinion that Severus had something to do with it.

Of course, Albus knew that Severus had nothing to do with the incident, but he had to insinuate that he – the Headmaster – had pulled the ass of his potions master from the fire. It would make Severus more susceptible to suggestions, and not for the first time since he had met Severus – as a young child, after all, Albus was already Headmaster when Severus entered Hogwarts – how a powerful mind like that of Severus could be easy to manipulate, but with a mental shake of his head, the Headmaster told himself that was a good thing since it allowed him to manipulate the potions master to do his bidding.

"Your words tell me that the prince was not that convinced," Severus noted dryly.

'_Yes,'_ Albus thought to himself, '_Lord Alexander was most adamant that Severus had something to do with the attempt, though it is obvious that the prince was more angry not at the attempt against him, but against the Lady Emma.'_

Albus did not even bother to say anything, he merely nodded, but that was enough and as if to emphasize that fact, Severus actually slumped in his seat in response to the action of the Headmaster.

"What should we do, sir?" Severus asked, his voice hopeful, and unknown to Severus, the desperation in his words caused a smile to form on the face of the Headmaster. Albus knew that he has Severus exactly where he wanted the young man, specifically; Severus was now ready to do the bidding of the Headmaster.

"What do you think should we do?" the Headmaster asked, and for a few moments, the older man who already had a plan in his head did nothing but stare at Severus, impatiently waiting for the man to come up with the same solution that the Headmaster had already concluded on his own.

Albus supposed that he could make the direct suggestion, but – unaware of the power behind the Oath until that moment that he actually experienced it – he was unwilling to even risk even a collateral attack on it. it was far better to let Severus voice the conclusion on his own, partly because it would galvanize Severus better than if the Headmaster would directly suggest it, and partly as a test to see just how powerful the Oath could be.

"We could circumvent the Oath," Severus said a few moments later. Albus stared at his potions master for a few moments, waiting for the Oath to kick in, but when Severus remained breathing after five seconds, the Headmaster was convinced that the Oath was not going to kill them.

'_Perhaps the earlier assessment of Severus was correct,'_ the Headmaster thought to himself, '_It is a two way street, and the recent actions of the Prince was a severance, but how did he manage to invoke it even after the death of Mr. Goyle?'_

The body of Gregory Goyle would not be released to his parents as was custom. Instead, invoking the Oath, Lord Alexander had ordered that the body of the young boy whom the Prince had labeled as a traitor would be hanged from the tower of Hogwarts, a punishment fit for those who had tried to attack a member of the Royal Family and one that had long since been outlawed in the muggle world. Apparently, it was still enforceable in the magical world.

"Could you find a way to break it without the consequences?" Albus asked a few moments later. Severus looked ready to reply, but before the potions master could push one word out of his mouth, the Headmaster of Hogwarts intervened, "You must have felt the power behind the Oath, Severus, it made us both return to our seats even if we are fighting against it."

The uncomfortable look on the face of the potions master confirmed for the Headmaster that Severus did not find the fact that he had been overpowered – by a muggle, no less – amusing. The man looked ready to tear Lord Alexander and his party limb from limb, but Severus is smart enough to know that he could never do that, Oath or no Oath. The bodyguards of Lord Alexander looked deadly enough, as the classmates of Mr. Goyle would attest.

Those same students – whom the Prince had labeled as conspirators – are all under arrest pending investigation. The Prince was willing to accept the explanation of the Headmaster that there is still a chance that the students had no idea that their classmate was going to fire a killing curse – and yes, the Prince was well aware that that was the spell fired, even if no one amongst Hogwarts staff or students had told him – at him and his fiancé. Lord Alexander, however, demanded an investigation, and it was an investigation that the Headmaster could not deny the Prince.

Fortunately, the ones doing the investigation would be the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The Headmaster does not have enough friends in that department, but it was a compromise that he and the prince agreed upon, since the prince had initially wanted the investigation to be handled by his Chief-of-Staff – Vice Admiral Cline, the very man who had done the shooting and had demanded the take-over – and that would have been disastrous as the Headmaster had _no_ friends in that body.

"There should be a way around it, Headmaster," Severus assured his superior. The sneer on the face of the potions master told the Headmaster that Severus has something more to add – no doubt a derision of the muggles – but the potions master held himself, probably realizing that the muggles are now appearing to be the one who was underestimated by the magicals instead of the other way around as was always claimed by their historians.

"I will trust you with it, then, Severus," the Headmaster said. He pretended to be bothered by the assurance of his potions master for a few moments – just enough to present doubt to the course of action – before he gave that answer.

The truth was, Albus really had no idea if there was a way around the Oath. He could only hope that Severus could find it, but as smart and intelligent as the sour-faced potions master is, he is nowhere near as smart and as intelligent as the Headmaster. Albus, however, would rather not risk his life and limb trying to break an Oath that he could not be sure could not harm him.

For all the confidence of the Headmaster and the potions master that a way exists, the Headmaster just was not willing to take anything up to chance.

**Aboard **_**HMS Iron Duke**_**, Britannian Grand Fleet Flagship, Black Lake**

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Near Inverness**

**Scotland, British Isles, Holy Empire of Britannia**

**October 18, 1995**

The conference room aboard the two hundred fifty seven meter long battleship was actually just the wardroom. At times when it was not used for conferences, the officers hang out in this place to pass time, and as if to emphasize that fact, this wardroom was actually nothing but a library.

There are, however, seats inside the room and a whiteboard used for times like these, when the ward doubles as a conference room.

Lord Alexander was seated beside Lady Emma – as was usual – near the front of the room. He would usually use his flag quarters to meet with his closest advisors, but the size of this meeting – more than a dozen people are present – precluded that option. His quarters could hold him and Lady Emma at night and could be used to meet with six – even seven people – at the same time, but there was no way it could fit a dozen.

At some unspoken and unseen signal, Lady Emma began the meeting, unusual for those who had never attended meetings like this before since Lady Emma projects an image of being submissive and always in agreement with her fiancée, "You were harsher than you ought to be," she said, surprising Brigadier General Arnott and his deputy – both of whom are attending a meeting like this for the first time – with her accusatory tone. In fact, the deputy of Brigadier General Arnott looked ready to take offense.

The lack of response from Lord Alexander – not to mention the looks of amusement in the face of the other regular attendees in Lord Alexander's personal meetings – convinced both the general and his deputy that this was normal occurrence in meetings like this.

"Such is the punishment for traitors," Lord Alexander replied with an easy smile and a tone that suggested that it was – for the Prince – an off-handed comment. He looked at Lady Emma before he added, "It was not my fault that they refuse to follow our world into the twentieth and beyond, they are the ones who should have repealed that law, goodness knows, my great-grandfather would have allowed it."

Lord Alexander's great-grandfather – the father of the current Empress Elizabeth – was Emperor Edward I who reigned from 1940 to 1970. He was the one who had first banned the penalty of death within the Empire, a trend that was followed by almost all nations around the world who would not be beaten in such publicity by the Holy Empire. Nowadays, the only offense punishable by death in the Holy Empire – at least, in the non-magical world – is a successful assassination of a member of the immediate Royal Family.

For a few moments, Lady Emma did not say anything, her silence a beacon for everyone else in the room and preventing them from voicing their opinions. After a few moments, Lady Emma gave a nod toward her fiancé, an action that indicated that while the argument over this particular matter is now over, she was still against his decision. Whether or not the two of them would speak about this at a later venue, however, is a matter left between the two of them.

Lord Alexander acknowledged the concession of his fiancée before he turned his attention toward the commander of the ground forces in the area," General," Lord Alexander began, "I trust that the deployment is going off as planned and without a hitch," an amused smile graced the face of Lord Alexander before the prince amended his words, "or at least, not as much hitch as to cause serious problems."

The nod of Brigadier General Arnott answered the question of Lord Alexander, the words that came out of his mouth clarified the answer, "We have been at the receiving end of some angry stares since we arrived here, Sir," the general said, "but so far, no one had been foolish enough to try anything against the men," he grumbled lowly, an indication that he was angry, before he added, "At least, not before tonight."

Lord Alexander actually laughed, "What happened tonight was well within parameters," the prince admitted. He stared at the general and his subordinate and added, "We suspected that someone is going to do something like this, and we had already taken appropriate precautions," his eyes turned dark, however, before he added, "I was, however, not informed that my Lady Emma may be in danger," and the threat that laced his voice actually made the general and his deputy – both seasoned combat veterans – cringe in their seats.

Lady Emma placed her hand on the shoulder of her would-be husband, and that was all that was needed in order to calm Lord Alexander.

"Where's Cadet Potter?" Lord Alexander asked.

"He and his cadets are seconded to tonight's guards, sir," Rear Admiral Ashford replied easily, "I took the liberty to get him out of the way for this meeting."

Lord Alexander nodded, though he pretended not to see the scowls on the face of the only two civilians in the room with him, Lord James and Lady Lily Potter. The Prince supposed that he could understand their indignation; after all, the cadet is their son and had been given an important mission. His absence here despite the fact that their discussion would soon have something to do with the mission that he was given was telling.

"Lady Potter," Lord Alexander said as he turned his attention toward Lily. The Countess of Lisbourne turned to regard her liege lord just in time to watch as Lord Alexander said, "I had been informed that you had spoken with one of the students of the school."

Lily nodded, "I had, Your Grace," Lily replied nonchalantly. For a few moments, there was silence as no one spoke, apparently, Lily was not going to say anything unless asked a direct question, but Lord Alexander was also not going to ask a direct question. Finally, Lily broke the silence – no doubt influenced by the fact that her husband had nudged her numerous times – and said, "My son had nothing but praise for Hermione Granger and I thought I should check her out," she smiled before she inclined her head toward Rear Admiral Granger, but the adjutant of Lord Alexander kept his piece despite the fact that Lily was asking him to say something.

"I intend to ask Your Grace to offer her a chance to prove her loyalty to the Empire," Lily continued after he stared at Rear Admiral Granger for a few moments. The uncle of Hermione was supposed to be the one doing this, since the girl is his niece, "Toward the end that she be allowed to move to the mainland in order to continue her education there."

Lord Alexander smiled, "Hermione Granger had always been at the lit, Lady Lily," the Prince admitted, he nodded toward his adjutant – an action that confirmed to Lily that Rear Admiral Granger had already done this before, and from the way that the things are looking, he had been granted this wish – before he continued, "Pending the approval of her father, Hermione would be allowed to attend universities at the mainland of her choice, but..," and here, he looked toward Lily, "I suspect that your interaction with the young lady had made permission from her father a moot and academic point."

Lily had the good graces to blush, but did not say anything. Lord Alexander merely smiled at her before he shook his head and said, toward Rear Admiral Granger, "Would you speak with your brother for me?" he asked.

Rear Admiral Granger did not even hesitate, "Of course, Your Grace," he replied, he paused for a few moments, but instead of returning his attention toward Lord Alexander, he turned it toward Vice Admiral Cline.

The Chief of Staff noted the fact that Rear Admiral Granger was looking at him, but Vice Admiral Cline did not turn his attention toward his subordinate, instead, he kept his attention forward, toward Lord Alexander, and he said, "Your Grace, I think we should discuss our next move regarding the school."

Lord Alexander turned to regard his chief-of-staff for a few moments. The two men stared at each other, neither blinking, but just as Vice Admiral Cline was about to say something, Lord Alexander suddenly said, "I know what you are going to suggest, Kevin."

Vice Admiral Cline was taken aback by a few moments, but proving that he was well qualified to be the chief-of-staff to Lord Alexander when he stared back at his superior officer. Everyone in attendance knew that the only one who could actually last at a staring match with the Prince, however, was Lady Emma, and in this, they were proven correct when a few moments later, Vice Admiral Cline averted his gaze from Lord Alexander.

"We are not here to assert Imperial control over the school, we are merely here to remind them to whom they owe their loyalty to," Lord Alexander began. He turned his attention away from his chief-of-staff and focused it toward the rest of the people in attendance, "Toward that end, we are to find a way to remove those that are harming our relationship with the magical world from this school, and other positions of power," he focused his attention toward Vice Admiral Cline and asked, "Who are these people?"

Vice Admiral Cline stiffened in response, "Sir," he began. Like Lord Alexander, he had read the reports that had been forwarded by Imperial Intelligence, and like his liege lord, Vice Admiral Cline was well aware that the information within are classified. Not everyone in the room have the necessary security classification to actually know who is on that list.

Lord Alexander raised his hand and motioned for his chief-of-staff to not continue anymore. He turned to regard everyone in the room before he refocused his gaze at Vice Admiral Cline and said, "We have enemies amongst the ranks of the staff of this school, and we have enemies amongst the rank and file of the students of this school, but that does not mean that _everyone_ in this school is an enemy," he shook his head for emphasis and added, "The fact that the niece of Rear Admiral Granger is here should have been enough indication, Vice Admiral Cline."

"Sir," Vice Admiral Cline replied.

Lord Alexander, however, was not yet done admonishing his chief-of-staff, "If we do as you suggest and take over this school, we would be turning those _everyone_ into enemies, and not even the presence of 'C' Brigade, indeed, not even the presence of 22nd Infantry Division and our battleship division, would be enough to contain the insurrection that would surely follow once news hit the rest of their world," he shook his head and added, "I agree that we need to reassert our control over this world, but we must do it in such a way that the civilians, those students and some of the staff, would welcome – rather than disdain – us."

For a few moments, there was silence as each and every person in the room digested the information that Lord Alexander had just given them.

It was James, Viscount of Lisbourne, who broke the silence but the words out of his mouth are exactly the words that everyone else in the room was thinking about, "He's going to try to find a way to break the Oath," the count said in a tone of finality. Lord Alexander turned his attention toward his subordinate and James added, "If there is one thing that the old man does not like, its something having more power than him – or anything actually."

Lord Alexander turned to Rear Admiral Ashford and at the sight of his commander looking at him, the military advisor reported, "Lord James may be onto something here, sir," he conceded, "People like the Headmaster are never happy when someone more powerful than them makes their presence known."

"His Grace is power," Brigadier General Arnott said, injecting himself into the conversation. He actually looked indignant at the insinuation that the Headmaster is offended at the thought that Lord Alexander is more powerful.

"We mean in terms of magical power, general," Lily replied, before she pointedly ignored the fact that the general was staring at her with a murderous expression written on his face. She turned her attention toward Rear Admiral Ashford and asked, "Do you know of a way around it?"

Lily knew that of all the people inside the room, Rear Admiral Ashford has the highest intelligence score. It was not surprising that the man graduated first in his class from every school that he had attended, including one of the highest grades in the Naval Postgraduate School in Rhode Island with _two_ degrees that he attained at the same time.

"There are several ways that we – as in the non-magical side of the treaty – could break the Oath," he explained, "but for their side, I see two, maybe three, ways that they could get out of it, one being far superior to the other two, but would result to consequences to whoever it is that is breaking the Oath."

"A direct challenge to the Oath?" Lord Alexander asked, and when Rear Admiral Ashford nodded, the Prince asked, "What are the chances of that happening?"

"Practically zero, Admiral," Rear Admiral Ashford replied. He paused before he explained his reasoning, "The Headmaster might be delusional, but he is not stupid, and I do not think anyone that he would set to find a way to break the Oath – I do not see him being the one who would be doing this personally – would not be as well," he shook his head for emphasis before he added, "the Headmaster could not afford to leave this in the hands of someone who would be stupid enough to directly challenge the Oath."

"Every one of his closest and smartest allies were with us in the Great Hall," James said a few moments later, "there are those who are more powerful, magically and politically, but power does not necessarily equate to intelligence, especially one that I think would be required in order to break the Oath without consequences."

Silence descended between those who are in the meeting once more, but it was a silence that was not going to last long, as Lord Alexander asked another direct question, "Practically zero is not the same as zero, Rear Admiral Ashford," he observed, "Could we discount the fact that someone might actually be stupid enough to do exactly that? A direct challenge?"

The silence that descended inside the room spoke volumes, and finally, Rear Admiral Ashford was forced to reply, "I honestly do not know, Admiral," he replied, "but human nature and self-preservation should stop any direct challenge," he paused before he added, "We all saw what happened when the Oath was invoked his evening."

Heads nodded around the room as everyone acknowledged that. Everyone inside was aware of the Oath – or at least, they are now even if they had not been when they first saw it this evening – but none of them had any idea that it would do what it had done this evening. In theory, anyone who would pose a direct challenge to the Oath would be subdued the same way that the entire student and staff population of Hogwarts – with the exemption of Hermione who was with Harry – was subdued this evening.

"Then our worry would be the subtle way that our enemies in the castle would break the Oath," Lord Alexander concluded, and at the look on the face of Lady Emma, he quickly added, "That we have enemies in the castle is a foregone conclusion, Love,"

Lady Emma was forced to concede that what her fiancé had said was true, and she politely inclined her head toward his direction in supplication, though the look on his face told Lord Alexander that she still does not like it.

"It will happen, gentlemen, ladies," Lord Alexander said, and though it was meant for everyone, the next words out of his mouth were directed toward Brigadier General Arnott, "That Oath is not meant to stop rebellion from the magical world, it was meant to warn us of its impending approach so that we may prepare for it. Our ancestors wished to subdue the magical world as well, but the circumstances of that time forced us to abandon it," the smile on his face was vicious and predatory as he added, "The situation today is changed. We have no enemy powerful – or stupid – enough to try to challenge us directly, Europe is at peace, as are the Americas and Asia while in Africa, our interest remains guarded by our alliance with the Middle-East Federation and the South African Union, nothing is preventing us from launching our offensive against the magical world."


End file.
